Ariadne: The Mesmerising Sunday Times Bestselling Retelling of Ancient Greek Myth

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Ariadne makes one affirmative decision to help Theseus at the start of the story and then is just blown in the wind for the rest of the book. Even when she does stand up to others it amounts to nothing more than her own crippling self-doubt. Now it's true that Saint must follow quite closely the original source material but the internal life of Ariadne is all her own and that is unfortunately the weakest part of the story. Even with two clown consultants on board, Team Vaudeville’s four stooges don’t get quite the same chance to shine. A stage-upon-the-stage hems them in, and their props are rather restrained. Alongside this treatment of women in Greek mythology, Saint’s narrative has none of the overly contrived plot details which are so often used to excuse the failings of male heroes. For example, Theseus is not simply excused for his misdeeds by divine intervention. That is not to say that characters like Theseus are devoid of depth and portrayed as one-dimensional villains. By giving a complex characterisation to these more negatively portrayed characters, Saint permits the reader to gauge an understanding of why they act as they do. This, however, does not in any way make their behaviour seem acceptable or excuse it.

The audience enjoyed a gull swooping down for a clown’s giant ice cream. And pardon me, but surely it should have been a red kite. These magnificent birds soaring over the grounds at Garsington are more daring every season. So far this summer they have claimed counter-tenor Iestyn Davies’s prawns, my Times colleague Neil Fisher’s salt beef bagel and, as of last night, my picnic cheese. The possibilities are endless, when a bunch of clowns join a bunch of opera singers (no jokes, please) but Ravella barely has the two groups overlap beyond their collisions in the score. In the mini-opera, loved-up Ariadne and Bacchus head for the stars, and the vaudevillians vanish. But...even though I think Ariadne didn't have the same impact on me Circe had...I still enjoyed it so much. It's been beautiful overall and, after careful consideration, it also deserved an almost 5-star rating. Which translates into a 5-star rating here, on Goodreads! I loved the twist on the Greek heroes. Theseus is an asshole and I loved hating on him. I enjoyed all the different elements and characters, including Daedalus and Icarus.Saint's enchanting debut retells the myth of the minotaur through the eyes of Ariadne... As the women navigate their changing positions of power, they court disaster at the hands of both gods and men. Saint expertly highlights how often the women of this world pay the price for the actions of the men around them. Lovers of mythology should snap this up.' - Publishers Weekly This production of Ariadne auf Naxos gives the many ideas it contains space to ruminate. The visual language is a little muddled, but doesn’t detract from some very exciting performances.

This monster, also known as the Minotaur, demands blood and every year 14 innocent young men and women from Athens are given as a sacrifice. Despite being horrified by the brutality and loss of life, Ariadne does nothing.No longer was my world one of brave heroes; I was learning all too swiftly the women's pain that throbbed unspoken through the tales of their feats."

However, other than her actions at the beginning of the book, I found Ariadne to be quite a passive character. I did enjoy reading the story from a woman’s perspective and it perfectly highlighted how women would be punished for the actions of a man. This will be your third Strauss opera at Garsington Opera. Does this house have particular special qualities which make it ideal for these operas?

Fabulous vocals abound in Strauss’ strange tale

Some directors fail to link the work’s two parts adequately, but Gaitanou proves remarkably consistent here. We watch the cameras roll as the interaction between drama and harlequinade plays itself out with great subtlety, and routines rehearsed in the Prologue are subsequently seen in full. Zerbinetta’s companions have become one of Fellini’s groups of travelling musicians, though Gaitanou is less successful in her reimagining of Ariadne’s attendants as a trio of aquatic spirits, distractingly gyrating in imitation of the movements of the sea. The Composer looks on, gazing entranced at Zerbinetta, and the fireworks the producer has insisted upon – often omitted – erupt at the climax of the Bacchus/Ariadne duet. This book is written in a really lovely, effortlessly elegant way that just seemed to flow with ease. It was steady, and really felt like an exploration of the myth when going into it. I could feel myself sinking into the words each time I opened the book, and found myself looking forward to returning. This is a story many people will be familiar with, thus Saint seems to take pleasure in playing with the reader’s expectations. There are many little details that appear to be foreshadowing, yet when the time comes Saint neatly sidesteps the anticipated event. For this reason, this review will avoid going into too much plot-specific detail, although it will assume that the broad strokes are so commonly written about that they can no longer be spoiled. Forget the vicissitudes that led to Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal having a second go at their subject (which began as an attempt to marry straight theatre with opera) – there’s enough genre-busting in its incarnation for music theatre performers alone, as Strauss, still fresh from the triumph of Der Rosenkavalier, was keen to show off his ability in Operette style: that being something potentially as demanding of its singers as opera itself, even though amusement and sentimentality were also high on its list of ingredients.

Then it is time for dinner, a stroll around the gardens and perhaps another glass of bubbly in the glorious Wormsley estate before the opera-come-italian comedy begins. The UK edition is gorgeous, but better as a decoration, and not to read. I wish I hadn’t read this book and was blissfully unaware of its terrible contents. The three girls played by Claire Lees, Siân Griffiths and Harriet Eyley who play a sort of Greek chorus give a tight and lyrical performance, whereas the troupe of Harlequins were less together, their vocal styles perhaps a little too disparate. Young Woo Kim, Claire Lees, Siân Griffiths and Harriet Eyley in Ariadne auf Naxos, Garsington Craig Fuller 2023In a world where women are nothing more than the pawns of powerful men, will Ariadne's decision to betray Crete for Theseus ensure her happy ending? Or will she find herself sacrificed for her lover's ambition?