Medusa’s First Kiss A Little Angel Theatre co production with Cuckoo Bang Theatre Productions

This show, by Holly Mallet and P Burton-Morgan is an affirmation of “otherness” predicated on the observation that you will find a version of almost every character in Greek mythology in a 2024 comprehensive school. Of course, its name is Olympus High. Medusa (I saw Holly Mallet in the role, but it’s shared with Nadia Wyn Abouayen) is definitely “different”. She has hair made of snakes for a start and, in this instance, they are small, knitted tassels on her hat who chat to her and sing with her. At other moments there are larger snakes – or monsters – also knitted and homely.

The dialogue acknowledges that we’re seeing two sorts of monsters here – the real and the metaphorical – and the idea of “In the face of unwanted attraction we turn them to stone” is fun: literal in the original myth, but meaning something about assertiveness in this context.

As various characters appear – played by Chloe Morley and all relating to those Greek myths – we range across trans-gender, same sex attraction, bullying, the right to be yourself and a lot more with messages such as “Some of us feel happier taking gender out of the equation” and a lot of emphasis on kindness to each other.

The songs are modestly tuneful but a bit repetitive. The best moment, musically, is Mallet sitting down with an acoustic (but plugged in) guitar and singing a simple song while telling the story of how she, as Medusa, has helped poor bullied Cyclops.

Given that Little Angel is essentially a puppet theatre the puppetry in this show is pretty peripheral. It’s really a twohander play featuring two actors aimed at upper Key Stage 2 or lower Key Stage 3.