Live It Up, Mr Hades (1977)
A theatre cabaret
cl, pno (harmonium), perc
Duration: c. 60 minutes
An Absurd circus entertainment based on short stories by Gogol, Kafka and Dostoyevsky, with Alan Sawford, Rosemary Sigel, Christopher Barr, Dafydd Hughes and Mary Kelly.
Music by Charlie Barber; Lyrics by Robin Lyons
First performed by Red Light Theatre at Chapter Theatre, Cardiff on 21 September 1977
with Robin Lyons (clarinet), Gavin Hibbs (piano and harmonium), Cliff Prior (percussion)
Images
Press
“The theatre seating is arranged on stage so as to create an intimate cabaret atmosphere…The action takes place in and around a circus ring, which in turn becomes a cage, office, street, café – each change motivated by Charlie Barber’s excellent music, the percussive and emotive quality of which provided the cohesive factor…”
Keith Woods, Audience magazine October 1977
“It is a circus-style entertainment, based on short stories by Kafka, Gogol and Dostoievsky. In other words, it presents a nightmarish world set deep within the most subjective recesses of the imagination…The caricatures and the stories, however, give only part of the picture, the rest being provided by Charlie Barber’s effective musical score…Mr Barber’s strong keyboard work together with lyricist Robin Lyon’s clarinet played a major role in binding the show’s episodes together.”
Tim Brassell, Western Mail, 19 October 1977
Performances
| 21 – 24.09.77 | CARDIFF | Chapter Theatre |
| 18 – 19.10.77 | CARDIFF | Sherman Arena Theatre |
Works index
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Charlie Barber 