Satan wants to return home, he wants to join his father back in heaven. He regrets his previous misdemeanours and would rather God just let bygones be bygones and move on. As Satan quite rightly points out he’s forgiven everybody else, why not him? But alas God is having none of it despite the very generous offer made by the Devil to end the human race and just make a fresh start. This alone makes the announcements he makes of being a reformed super-being sound somewhat disingenuous if not delusional. And delusional rather than demonic is how Satan came across to me in this piece, stark staring mad, incapable of recognising his own failings or any falsehood spoken.
Deaon Griffin-Presley is a powerhouse of intensity and emotion as the fallen favourite and delivers his monologue (God appears as a distant voice) with force, confidence and a barely controlled rage at times. As an exchange between two of the most powerful supernatural entities within the Christian mythos the dialogue never strays into the existential or prosaic, indeed the to and fro between these two entities is more like a family argument, a breakdown between father and son, which in the end is what this interaction is.
In the on-line version of the show which I watched Deaon stands in front of a screen onto which a red glowing scene of lava is projected. He has some props with which he works, crucifixes and goblets. It’s very simple but it’s the words and the emotions which we are being asked to focus and not onto some CGI’d fantasy. This setting is occasionally intercut with scenes filmed on a beach, with Satan wearing strap-on white wings and gilded makeup. An effectively conceived choreography is performed well here. But, I am not certain these scenes entirely work, as in the background children and small families can be seen playing in the surf and wandering into frame. For me this jarred with the overall tone and demeanour of the writing and performance with which these pieces are mixed and cut.
I liked the performance and the subject matter. That strange anomaly of Satan in the perfect firmament of God’s creation is always worthy of a creative eye to examine and to analyse what exactly the relationship between these two protagonists are and the tensions which exist. Many have tried to do this and Daemon’s words and performance together with the direction and choreography from Judy Barr adds another window with which to examine this story.
Delivered Online
Available anytime.
Suitability: 8+
Tickets: £ Pay What You Can