Billed as “Orpheus is doing stand up for the gods”, it was hard to know what to expect from Martin Bongor, who is both the playwright and solo performer.

Bongor gives a wonderfully contemporary take on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, a heart wrenching tale of love and loss compounded by human frailty. Orpheus is a Greek musician who makes music that has supernatural powers. He falls deeply in love with the beautiful red haired Eurydice. Tragically, she is bitten by a snake and dies. Orpheus is inconsolable in his grief and goes to the underworld to try and rescue her. Hades, the God of the underworld allows this on one simple condition - that Orpheus does not look back behind him….

Unable to cope with his grief and filled with remorse over his failure to obey Hades, Orpheus becomes addicted to alcohol and doughnuts. Hence he becomes a sad fat man, with parallels here to twentieth century musicians such as Elvis.

The eternal truths within the myth are obvious to all, but perhaps made more poignant by the darkly comic “stand up” style which Orpheus communicates with us. The mode of delivery was authentically “ teenage”, and probably resulted in the recommended age being above 14.

Using the audience in the role of gods brings an interesting take on the dynamic of the play. The gods are immortal and have an overwhelming curiosity about death. One can imagine that they would struggle to empathise with the emotions so clearly displayed by Orpheus, a mere mortal. And perhaps they never make mistakes that affect the lives of others.

The mystical, powerful music that Orpheus created was somewhat less than convincing, being reminiscent of music in “ alternative” health food shops. What other options are there? Rap? Mozart? Demis Roussos?

This quirky one man show worked really well in the intimate setting of the North Wall Theatre, and it deserves greater exposure. Be reassured, no prior knowledge of the classics is required, even if you are chosen to play Cupid!

Success must be measured by the way in which dark tragedy was demonstrated well, without the audience leaving drained. The mainly teenage audience clearly loved it, and the more mature seemed suitably entertained. Watch out for more from Move To Stand.