Shapeshifting in the Underworld – how Hadestown keeps evolving with its performers

“It’s funny,” the creator of Hadestown, Anaïs Mitchell, starts, “If you read the script, it’s very skeletal, you know? It’s essentially just music, music, music.”

For Mitchell, that sparseness leaves plenty of room for interpretation – including when it comes to gender.

“I feel like in terms of how it’s visually presented, there is a lot of freedom there.”

The musical, which retells the Greek tragedy of two pairs of lovers, has seen a host of interpretations since it premiered at the National Theatre. Fans debate, discuss and challenge everything from the flower used as a motif throughout the show, to the notebook that each Orpheus journals in, as well as interpretations on character and gender.

Hermes, in particular, has proved remarkably fluid.

“The Hermes character really feels like a character who can be played by an actor of any gender. It feels intuitive. The character is a shapeshifter,” Mitchell says. Malinda Parris is currently playing the role in London, with Norbert Leo Butz in New York, and André de Shields in the filmed version, alongside performers of different genders elsewhere in the show’s history.

“I’ve learned so much by seeing that role played by a woman and non-binary performers. It changes the chemistry of the show somehow.”

The hit West End and Broadway musical, directed by Rachel Chavkin, was immortalised on film earlier this year when original core cast members reunited at the Lyric Theatre. Hadestown: The Musical was filmed across three performances, starring André de Shields as Hermes, WhatsOnStage Award nominee Eva Noblezada as Eurydice, Reeve Carney as Orpheus, Amber Gray as Persephone and Patrick Page as Hades. It arrives in UK and Ireland cinemas on 13 October. You can find out more about the film from Mitchell here.

The reunion also included members of the UK company, including Allie Daniel, an original West End Fate, who also covers Hermes. As an openly transgender woman, she has received great acclaim online from fans who have watched the film in the US and beyond, adding another dimension to Mitchell’s ever-expanding understanding of character.

Mitchell then goes on to single out Alex Lugo, who recently became the first person to perform ten tracks in the Broadway production. They have played every Worker, every Fate, Eurydice and Persephone.

“They are a tremendous artist,” the writer says, “I’m learning all the time about what the show can be and how it can evolve as the world evolves.”

Growing up in Vermont, which Mitchell says is “not a very diverse state,” she acknowledges the gendered language used throughout the piece, such as “brother” and “son” and “hungry young girl”.

“When I was writing, it just felt like a part of the poetry. The sort of vintage language felt like a call back to a time.”

But she is determined it won’t limit reimaginings of the piece.

“We’ve been so lucky with the people who have gotten on the train.”

Earlier this year, an actor set to join the Broadway production withdrew from the show after controversial videos about transgender people resurfaced.

Conversation turns to two performers who have played Orpheus. One is the West End’s original, Dónal Finn, the other is a recent Broadway alum and WhatsOnStage Award winner, Jack Wolfe. “I think of them both as absolute masters,” Mitchell smiles. “Their performances were so different, like you almost couldn’t get more different, but absolutely Orpheus, both of them.”

“I love that the character can hold that breadth of humanity within it, you know? They could really bring themselves to it, and it still works.”

Mitchell may have nailed Hadestown’s enduring flexibility. The show’s sung-through structure and relatively skeletal script leave space for each performer to find something of its own.

The cast recording of Hadestown, which features the five stars from the filmed production, allows listeners to experience the entire musical. Now the film will open up access for a whole new audience.

“Going forward, there will be other interpretations of this show,” Mitchell says, “But this one will always be available for everyone to see. So much heart, blood, sweat and tears has gone into documenting this snapshot, and now it exists, and we don’t know where it may end up.”

“It feels like a piece of immortality.”