Alexander Wright in Helios at the Edinburgh Fringe Photo: Late Cut Media
For North Yorkshire’s Alexander Wright theatre making is a way of bringing together the very local with the much larger universe he believes we need to feel connected to.
In his latest touring show, with longtime collaborator musician Phil Grainger, Helios, the immensity of the sun is brought down to earth with the use by Wright as sole performer of little more than Grainger’s soundscape and a range of Ikea-bought lamps.
Wright and Grainger have become known for retelling the myths of ancient Greece in a contemporary context. They’ve previously toured their well-received shows Orpheus and The Gods The Gods The Gods around Aotearoa New Zealand. Their shows have been performed hundreds of times - from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where Helios premiered last year, to around Britain, Australasia and America.
In the myth of Helios, the sun god drove a golden chariot across the sky each day from east to west, providing the Earth with, among other things, hours and seasons. He was responsible for creating deserts and polar ice caps, reminding Wright of our relationship to climate change. Phaeton was Helios's mortal son but the boy was taunted for claiming the sun god as his father and was to ultimately fall to his death when he borrowed his father’s chariot .
Alexander Wright in Helios at the Edinburgh Fringe Photo: Late Cut Media
The Wright and Grainger Helios, combines myth-telling with an entertaining science lesson the ancient story is set in a village, in rural England, close to where they come from.
Wright's Phaeton is a teenager whose parents have separated. His father is an aeroplane pilot, and the garage of their home lies a bright gold Ford Mercury.
In an echo of this story, while Wright and Grainger spend much of the year touring the globe, home is where they grew up in the Yorkshire countryside, with their families close by.
The pair have been friends since meeting at school, and have been making shows together for years. During the Covid-19 restrictions Wright even set up a pop-up theatre and cafe in the family garden at Stillington, the site of a former working mill.
The pair have become known for making ‘immersive’ theatre, intimate with an audience who often participate. They started making work in pubs, Wright notes, and have performed everywhere from the ruins of a York Abbey to a Dutch cheese shop.
In April, Wright will be on a 12 centre tour around Aotearoa that takes him from the Wānaka Festival of Colour on 6 April to Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland on 28 April. Along the way there will be unusual venues he has come to love, like Golden Bay’s Mussel Inn.
Mark Amery of Culture 101 spoke to Alexander Wright while he was on the road in Australia ahead of his return to New Zealand.
Alexander Wright in Helios at the Edinburgh Fringe Photo: Late Cut Media
