Oh Zeus! by La Nevet Bete Review

Reviews

29 Jul

Written by Alex for Theatre and Tonic

Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review. All views are our own

La Nevet Bete are the group who have devised ‘Oh Zeus’… sounds fancy doesn’t it? When in actual fact, it means ‘the daft turnip’. Daft is certainly one way of describing the trio’s antics, who have created a brilliantly bonkers show that is laugh-a-minute.

It takes ten minutes or so to actually adjust to just how insane this show is, but once it gets going, it’s hilarious! Nick Bunt, Matt Freeman, and Al Dunn (with the help of director John Nicholson) have written a superb script, that’s well-paced and, in the best way possible, feels like a fever dream. Every time that I thought the script couldn’t get more absurd, I was forced to eat my words.

The trio of performers are just amazing. Their constant costume changes and their ability to multi-role is truly impressive. They have excellent comedic timing, as you’d expect, and it’s lots of fun to see them ad-lib and make each other break character. Huge shoutout to the tech team as well, who are led by stage manager Abi Jones; they work tirelessly throughout the show and not a single cue is missed nor a single costume change messed up.

The design throughout the show is lovely. Fi Russell’s costume and set design is strong, with some particularly impressive costumes in the second half (such as the three-headed dog, and the life-sized plant pot). Stuart Billinghurst’s lighting design and Peter Coyle’s sound design are also great, complementing the action well.

If I had to be picky, at times the show becomes a bit like a musical and at times a bit like a pantomime. There’s nothing wrong with this, but the combination of all of the different genres means that the creative language at times can be a bit inconsistent. However, this is me being extremely picky, and ultimately there’s nothing wrong with the odd unnecessary song!

Overall, Oh Zeus is two hours of absurd, silly, chaotic madness. It’s cleverly written, flawlessly put together, and incredibly performed. It’s certainly worth a watch either at The Lowry this week or at one of its many 2026/27 tour venues. I was initially unfamiliar with La Nevet Bete, but will now be following all of their future endeavours!