Don’t Look at Me: A Modern Retelling of Medusa at Lion and Unicorn Theatre Review
There is something almost suspiciously sensible about taking Medusa’s story and asking the obvious question: what happens if, for once, we actually let her be the protagonist? Don’t Look At Me: A Modern Retelling of Medusa gives the Gorgon her long-overdue main character moment, reframing the familiar myth through a contemporary lens of ostracization, misogyny and the rather inconvenient business of being turned into a monster by everyone around you.
Written and performed by Anais Gralpois, the script is easily the production’s strongest weapon. It is witty, intelligent and packed with genuinely sharp observations, with Gralpois finding plenty of comic mileage in the absurdity of Greek mythology without losing sight of the darker ideas underneath it. The dialogue has a pleasingly quick-fire rhythm, and the relationship between Medusa and Perseus is particularly well conceived. How do you fall for someone you literally cannot look at? Through proximity, gesture, voice and the increasingly charged negative space between them, the show finds an inventive theatrical metaphor for intimacy.
There is also something satisfyingly ridiculous about watching two mythological figures attempt to navigate what is essentially an enemies-to-lovers romance while one of them could turn the other to stone with a glance. Gralpois’ comic instincts make the premise work, whilst the eventual shift towards more vulnerable territory gives the relationship genuine emotional stakes.
Unfortunately, the production doesn’t always seem quite as confident about how to present all of this as it is about what it wants to say.
The biggest issue is pacing. Scene changes are often unclear, making it difficult to immediately understand when one section has ended and another has begun. Rather than creating a deliberate sense of fragmentation, these transitions can leave the piece feeling confused about where it is going next. Momentum is repeatedly built and then allowed to dissipate, meaning that some of the sharper comic exchanges and emotional beats don’t land with quite the force they deserve.
The direction by Julia Sopher has some interesting ideas — particularly in the physical language of Medusa and Perseus’ relationship — but too often feels as though it stops just short of fully exploiting them.
Most frustratingly, there is a sense of missed potential in the technical design. This is a story crying out for bold lighting and sound: Medusa’s mythology, the tension of forbidden eye contact and the shift between comedy, romance and horror could all be heightened enormously through a more ambitious visual and sonic world. Instead, those elements feel comparatively restrained, leaving the actors and script to do considerably more heavy lifting than they should have to.
That is a shame because there is a genuinely good show buried in here. The writing is clever enough to deserve a production with the same confidence and imagination behind it. Gralpois has found an engaging new perspective on a story we have been telling for thousands of years; the staging simply needs to catch up with the script.
Don’t Look At Me is smart, funny and full of potential. Its ideas are considerably stronger than its execution at present, but there is enough wit, intelligence and theatrical possibility here to make you hope this Medusa gets another chance to look directly at her audience.
Don't Look At Me: A Modern Retelling of Medusa played at Lion and Unicorn Theatre 7th-9th August
Camden Fringe runs until 30th August
★★★
Written by Liam Arnold for Theatre and Tonic, August 2026.