REVIEW: Mythos: Ragnarok, The Mythological Theatre and Phil McIntyre Live, EdFringe 2024 ★★★★★

Mythos Ragnarok: the only Fringe show in the world performed entirely by wrestlers, has already established itself at the Fringe as something special. Tickets sell out, seats are packed, and the audience howls with glee.

Ed Gamester, creator of Mythos: Ragnarok dreamt up Mythos as a way to demonstrate the potential of wrestling.  As he told the audience at the end of the performance, wrestling doesn’t get a lot of respect, either as an art form or as a sport.  Gamester, and the other artists behind Ragnarok are on a mission to change that.  The result of their mission, Gamester said, is a show that tells the story of Norse Mythology; the rise and fall of the gods and the coming of Ragnarok.  The twist is that every clash between gods is set as a fully staged, WWE-style wrestling match, conducted by professionals at the physical and dramatic top of their game. We truly are watching the the gods at work.

The story centres around the on-again off-again relationship between Loki and Odin.  Together they create a new world, assembly a company of gods, defeat enemies, and ascend to dazzling heights of wealth, glory, and power.  Then it all falls apart when the two betray each other, and the end of the world is nigh…

As a piece of writing Ragnarok’s biggest challenge is packing centuries’s worth of events into an hour.  Gamester’s script succeeds brilliantly, capturing the essence of each era in the mythology, making it feel like years have passed yet never losing momentum.  The dialogue’s ostentatious style, evoking prophecies and curses, is spot on. It perfectly captures the larger-than-life aura of the show and sets the stage for the epic fights that are so on brand in this world of challenges, giants, and magic.  The marriage between wrestling and mythology is so natural that Mythos: Ragnarok had me asking: ‘how has nobody thought of this before?’ I guess it takes a genius.

The wrestling matches, scattered throughout the show, are what elevate this show beyond your usual Fringe fare.  Expertly timed and choreographed, the smackdowns take all the joy of WWE style wrestling and put it into the context of a story.  It feels like watching a high-budget action movie unfold in real life.  The audience ate it up, cheering at every move, howling at every fall.  The excitment in the air was infectious.

The show is so unique, so distinctive, and so iconically the kind of show that makes Fringe special.  It’s hard to critique such a glorious experience.  Yet I feel like this year, more so than last year, the show had a few flaws which dragged the tone down… ever so slightly.

For one thing, I think I detected a few changes in the script this year.  While last year’s show leaned heavily into austentatious mythological dialogue, this year, there were more quips, fourth wall breaks, and references to modern culture.  While tastes may differ on whether this makes the show better or not, I personally felt it detracted from the over-the-top, grandoise tone of the show that made the show feel so epic and larger-than-life.  I don’t want to relate to gods. I want to admire them.

I’d say a particular offender in this respect was Loki.  The actor/wrestler playing Loki was funny, talkative and drummed up a lot of sympathy with the audience.  He was everything but subtle.  Loki is supposed to be subtle.  There was a casting change from last year’s show, replacing the Lokis.  The new performer’s take on Loki lost something of the former performer’s sneakiness, charisma, and understatedness.  Towards the beginning, especially, the new performer’s take on Loki was so over the top, I felt like I was watching the cartoon sidekick in a Disney film rather than the god of mischief.  However, unlike last year’s Loki, this year’s Loki took me on a real journey.

All in all Mythos: Ragnarok is running strong in its third year of the Fringe, bringing back the glory, the feats of strength, and the sheer scale of Norse Mythology.  I sincerely hope they come back for next Fringe because Mythos: Ragnarok is unmissable.

Recommended Drink: Mead, in a horn.

Mythos: Ragnarok has completed its run at Edinburgh Fringe 2024. It is next touring in the Netherlands starting on September 27th.