Ralph Bolland Dumuzi, Bull of Heaven, Urshanabi Charlotte Brian Geshtinanna Lucy Burden Erishkigal, Siduri Insook Chappell Harlot, Kurgarra, Galla Anabelle Cheetham Ninsun, Aruru Charlie Folorunsho Gilgamesh Madden Gray Ishtar, The snake Tim Jones Shamash, Kalaturra, Galla Janek Lesniak Enkidu Cengiz Saner Anu, Neti, Enki, Ziusudra Musicians: Andy Cooke, Finn Peters, Nick Ramm, Barak Schmool, Saiko Susso Text by David Freeman Music by Habib Faye Director/Designer David Freeman World premiere, and the last ever production by Opera Factory. What could be better for the weekend in which Easter, Passover and Eid coincide than a collection of episodes from Babylonian mythology? In this new work, David Freeman has collated episodes from several sources to dramatize the cyclical death and rebirth in nature, and the once-for-ever reality of death for human beings. Paradoxically, it is awareness of their mortality that separates human beings from animals and brings them closer to the gods. The episodes recall both the Bible and Greek mythology. Ishtar, the moon goddess who is also the goddess of love, is forced by her brother the sun god to marry Dumuzi the farmer when she wants to marry the shepherd. She tries to conquer the world of the dead, ruled by her sister Erishkigal, the original queen of the night. When she fails, she has to be rescued by a couple of trickster spirits sent by her father, and forces her husband to take her place. His sister agrees to substitute for him in the underworld for half the year. Meanwhile, Gilgamesh is given the tamed wild man Enkidu for his companion, and becomes more civilised. Ishtar asks Gilgamesh to marry her, and when he refuses, curses Enkidu, who dies of disease. Gilgamesh, full of fear at the thought that he too will die, journeys through darkness to the end of the earth to ask Ziusudra for the secret of immortality. Ziusudra relates how he himself became immortal -- the story of Noah's flood nearly verbatim from the Bible -- , then tells Gilgamesh that he can only defeat death by staying awake for seven days. (There must be a lot of immortal people on my current project.) Gilgamesh fails, and Ziusudra tells him instead how to obtain a plant that will grant eternal youth. Gilgamesh gets the plant, but while he is sleeping, a snake sheds its skin beside him and takes it away again, leaving Gilgamesh with an overwhelming sense of loss. David Freeman writes in the programme that he conceived this work as a result of directing Akhenaten and Birtwhistle's The Lyre of Orpheus, both of which he found dramatic in a new way, in that the music created time and space for action rather than determining it. He originally wanted Glass to compose it, but eventually found his composer in the Senegalese musician Habib Faye. The music is deliberately "tribal" (we weren't allowed to use words like that in the 1970s, but I think Freeman is fully aware of the ironies of fusion and world music), with simple ritualistic vocal lines and near-minimalist instumental sections, plus some visceral percussion and pre-recorded violent sound effects. Spoken dialogue and physical drama form an equal part of the production. The performers were all strongly committed and unselfconscious. Many of them came from a physical drama or dance background. There were a couple of conventional singers, but the roles didn't really divide into singers and actors in any way. Visceral is probably the best word for the whole thing, in fact. The episodes that Freeman selects focus on the worry that human beings are very close to animals, and can lapse into uncontrollable violence at any time, and this is reflected in the often violently physical action. But the vivid awareness of death that goes with being human provokes screams of pain, and is evoked by the horrific depiction of the world of the dead, embodied by Erishkigal who suffers permanent birth pangs, but does not give birth. The set was an open space with a platform at the back for the gods, and a raised throne which converted in a coup de theatre into a tank of water into which Gilgamesh dived to get the plant of eternal youth. The only other scenery consisted of metal coat stands (I think from Habitat, round the corner) that look like stylised trees. One of these also served to crucify Ishtar in the underworld. Most of the effects were achieved by lighting alone, often very dramatically, with figures appearing suddenly when lit. The awkward shape of the Drill Hall, helped here as it was impossible to take in the whole performance area at once. The snake shedding its skin is an appropriate image for the seasonal renewal in the narrative, but Freeman and Opera Factory also intended this to be a transformation of the company into one dedicated to global theatre, producing new work in genres allied to opera but aimed at bringing in new and diverse audiences. I don't know if this plan was made explicit in the bid to the Arts Council that lost them their funding. Personally, I think And the snake sheds its skin is stunning theatre, exactly right to bring in a young adult audience and introduce them to music drama that deals with the essentials. I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't have a non-subsidised future, though I realise that the context of Opera Factory was essential for its development.