Queuing to enter the dank tunnel below Waterloo Station for Kindle Theatre's 'The Furies' you could easily believe you were waiting for a late night gig – which sets the scene nicely for this heavy metal reworking of the ancient Greek tragedy of Clytemnestra, a tale of love, revenge and murder.
But it doesn't fully prepare you for the hour-long gothic musical onslaught which awaits. The story – most famously dramatised by Aeschylus – is played out by three vengeful sirens who, accompanied by a live band, sing their way through a rock-style operetta of the legend with impressively violent rage.
If audience participation isn't your thing, look away now as the crowd (especially the men) are picked on, pulled, pushed and groped. Combining this angry allegory with heavy rock music sounds like it should be the perfect marriage.
But the story gets lost in the wailing. And if you're over the idea of nipple tape as empowerment, what should be a passionate woman's tirade feels more like screeching, over-sexed, hysterical stereotypes writhing across the stage.