Beowulf
at Greyfriars Kirk House (Venue 28), Edinburgh

Munira Mirza

Through thoughtful attention to the original story and the power of a great acting talent, this one-man narration of Beowulf is a truly spellbinding experience.

Translated and acted by Australian trained actor, Felix Nobis, the performance is set on a small black stage with only a few simple props to aid the narrator. He begins in the Old English, but this is blended easily into the modern translation, which maintains the mesmerising alliterative rhythm of the narrative voice. Written around 700AD, the epic of Beowulf recounts the adventures and glories of a celebrated mythical hero who fights against the enemies of men.

The narrator first reels the listener into his alien world by celebrating the noble lineage of the characters. With subtle gestures of his hands and eyes, Nobis' voice evokes a bare landscape where war and bloody struggle are commonplace. He describes the sea by the long cadence of his voice, the wave of his hand and the unfolding of a pale blue cloth on to a wooden table. The translation is excellent - rich with detail of the halls and the emotional relations between noblemen.

Nobis handles the dialogue with ease, mimicking voices and controlling the pace of the scenes. The story itself remains inspiring, centuries after it was first spoken. Beowulf's courage and the admiration with which the narration recounts his life go beyond the simple confines of nationalistic literature. This is a heroic tale that transports the listener from their quotidian life to an utterly different context through exciting their imagination and sympathy. It's storytelling at its best.