Created and Performed by Lily Asch

Musical Accompliment by Dimitris Kounatiadis

Arachne to Lamia. Skýlla to the Sirens, and most famously, Medusa.

There’s one thing which they all share. And it isn’t just in the monstrous forms they are punished with.

As ancient as the myths themselves the metamorphosis of women’s history through erasure and control leaves only the monstrous forms so many stories transform them into. A fusion of ancient art and contemporary presentation, Do Not Look Away’s building of form is a storytelling process keen to demonstrate both the craft and dedication to the subject matter it represents. Performer and academic Lily Asch’s weaving of narrative and respect to even the more problematic inspirations for the tale of Medusa is so tightly followed through that neither the fantastical elements of myth nor the brutal truths of reality weaken the other. They come together in a perfect sense of harmony to both entertain audiences and impart additional layers from each reading of Medusa as a victim, a monster, a heroine, a woman, and a conceptual ideology and strength.

Quite often, there can be an entirely appreciative sense of strong-armed conversation which interferes with the storytelling in its artistic form. Powerful and necessary discussions, yes, but not well-rounded from a production element. Do Not Look Away, however, is formed by tying myth into reality, as Asch draws on real-world experiences of Roe vs Wade, emancipation and erasure, to re-visit the story of Medusa and open eyes to both how the stories of the Gorgon have been constructed and how even centuries of progress result in the same tactics from those with influence.

Titularly a reference to Medusa’s monstrous abilities and a plea for audiences not to turn their gaze from the truths of systemic abuse (both within literary storytelling and the real world). There is a reduction of the ‘theatrical’ or performance nature of Do Not Look Away, which strays much closer into the avenues of conversational storytelling and academia – so there’s certainly room for a more performative nature, one which retains the heartbeat of Asch’s more studious core, though has a firm grasp of their intentions and the experiences core messaging and themes.

Aiding is the adaptable accompaniment of Dimitris Kounatiadis’ live percussive drumskins and rhythm. Their canny skills and sensory understanding match the tones of Asch’s storytelling magnificently as the shades of spoken word ripple through the more theoretical conversational elements. It often finds an equal beat of Asch’s stanza in a near-instinctual manner and evolves into a more performative scene-setting usage. Elements like this are here to push Do Not Look Away into a more familiar standing for theatrical audiences and show the tremendous promise of what it can flourish into with an additional run.

At times savage in honesty and performance (powerfully so), but at no point will (or should) the audience look away. They cannot. Asch’s is a skill so canny and sharp that from the first strums of Kounatiadis’ score and their initial lines of recitation and experience, there isn’t a member of the audience who isn’t already entirely ensnared. There’s something special here, lurking in the avenues of myth, but with an astute gaze on the problems which have plagued our treasured stories for centuries – ready to break free of their confines, and showcase these women for who they are: beneath the monstrous.

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