Something not everyone knows about me is that I am a massive ancient history nerd. It’s one thing my dad and I have a shared love and interest for; I was brought up being taught and learning stories, before studying it for my A-Levels. I even almost did a degree in classics at university. There’s something about ancient history, the Greek Gods, the myths, the legends, the battles, the whole way of life that I just love. I cannot consume enough content – films, documentaries, TV dramas, books, the lot.. However, a listening experience telling of Ancient Greek stories is not something I have ever encountered before. Until now…
Cue Half Man || Half Bull.
Of course, I know and love Hadestown – the musical telling a story of Orpheus and Eurydice. But Half Man || Half Bull is something completely different. This is a double album listening experience that has brought the stories of Theseus & the Minotaur, and Daedalus & Icarus to life, in a way that is new, creative and fresh.
Half Man || Half Bull has been created by 3 artists: Phil Grainger, Oliver Tilney & Alexander Wright. Phil & Oliver were both part of the original cast of the Immersive Great Gatsby, and Alexander is the director of that same show – so I had heard of this double album prior to the release, and was really looking forward to listening to it. Whilst I thought it would be really quite cool to have 2 Greek myths told to me through music, this was a whole new and different experience to what I was expecting. Needless to say: I loved it.
First things first – Half Man || Half Bull is described as an “at home theatrical listening experience”, and from the very second the first track on the first album starts, you can hear why. This listening experience is part music, part songs and part spoken words. The three have been fantastically combined and weaved together throughout the two albums to create what I think is a really beautiful and poetic experience, full of emotion.
When I purchased my listening pack for this experience, I was not expecting such a treat as the one I got. The pack has so many pieces to aid and enhance your experience. You can see the time and effort that has been made to put this together. As I said before – you can see why it is more described as ‘an at home theatrical listening experience’ as opposed to just a double album. The listening pack comes in very handy, with plenty of inserts to try and help you optimise your listening experience, which I appreciated and found really helpful – at least, for the first full listen through.
Within the pack you get:
- A sheet (not pictured) with one side dedicated to pre-listening, one side dedicated to post-listening, to try and help guide & enhance your experience both before and after.
- 4 smaller postcards & 2 larger postcards to use as you wish (although I do like the suggestion of hanging them up for others to see, or sending them to loved ones to make them smile).
- 2 sheets – one for Theseus & one for Daedalus, with tracklisting & a small explanation of what is happening during that track – helpful to follow as you listen!
- A handy dandy map of the locations
- Both the CDs (depending on whether you ordered the CD edition or not)
So when I ordered, and expected just the album – I was quite overwhelmed and pleasantly surprised to see all this extra content included!
I would say as a recommendation for your first listen, definitely use all the material that has been sent to you, just set aside 90 minutes, pop your headphones on and listen with no distractions. Of course, how you listen is entirely up to you, but I say this because as I said previously – this is two stories being told to you and is an experience, as opposed to just a standard album of music. The two albums are designed to be listened to back to back, first Theseus, immediately followed by Daedalus. Whilst they are two separate stories, there is something that links them both together, though whilst the stories are ancient, I will be nice and won’t spoil it for those who don’t know!
My first listen, I did just as I suggested above – shut off everything for a while, sat back and let the stories unfold, and I felt completely immersed and transported. The listening experience made it so easy for me to imagine and picture the stories I was hearing, happening right in front of my eyes. This is something I’ve found hard to do at home and somewhat a rarity since theatres closed, so for Half Man || Half Bull to be able to do this, I think speaks volumes in itself.
Now there is a reason why all these thousands of years later, ancient tales and stories of myths and legends are still being told in new, re-imagined, creative and fresh ways. Because even though they are old, they don’t feel it. This listening experience is a stark reminder of that; it tells two ancient tales in a fresh and new way. Not only that, it’s fun. It’s a creative and captivating way to bring ‘old’ stories to life and put a new perspective on them. Something else that I love is how this double album has made the stories easy to understand. You don’t need to have any previous knowledge or understanding of ancient history or these stories to listen to and enjoy the album. Who knows, listening may even inspire you to do more reading and learning after! The way the stories of Theseus & Daedalus are told shows that, despite their age, the themes and lessons are still relatable: Theseus just wants to prove himself & get love from his father, and Daedalus is a father dealing with grief over the loss of his son. Within these stories, there are still messages and lessons we can take and learn from them.
So, the tracks themselves. They are full of life. They bring the stories to life. You can feel this happening as you listen; through the performances on the tracks – courtesy of Phil Grainger, Oliver Tilney & Alexander Wright – and the versatility of the songs throughout the albums, the albums are atmospheric and the emotions are palpable.
On the Theseus album – you can hear and feel the anticipation and excitement of everyone as they make the journey to Crete. This is mimicked through the hope and determination of Theseus & Ariadne as they make plans to help each other which could help change both their lives, and the excitement from everyone after Theseus has returned.
On the Daedalus album – you can feel and hear his pain as he mourns his son, the wonder and the adventure as he and Icarus escape and fly out of their tower. From the start of the Theseus album to the end of the Daedalus album, there is consistent emotion and energy. By the end of the Daedalus album, I was left in tears (is anyone surprised though?), and I had to restrain myself from going back to the start to listen from the start all over again.
There are just two specific parts I want to draw attention to. First up – on the Theseus album, the track ‘The Minotaur‘ is SO beautiful and heartbreaking. The story of Theseus and the Minotaur is one I think I know fairly well. However, I can honestly say, I don’t think there has ever been a time where I have felt sympathy for the Minotaur. This song made me look at the Minotaur in a completely new light and actually had me feeling empathy for it, especially when Theseus kills it – something I absolutely did not expect, and wanted to mention this song for that very reason. Next up – on the Daedalus album, on the track ‘The Labyrinth (Epilogue)‘. This song is heartbreaking enough as it is – about Daedalus mourning his son, but there is one part in particular that really hit me in the heart. That part was:
“Realising that sometimes you need help.
Someone to help you.
To help lead you to the light again”.
I’m sure I don’t need to explain why I felt the emotions from that so strongly. It was so heartfelt, and so beautiful, as is the entire album.
And on that note, that brings me to the end! Half Man || Half Bull is such a creative, magical and unique way to bring history to life in a new re-telling. Whether you know the stories or not, whether you’re a fan of ancient history or not, I would highly recommend giving it a listen. As you can tell from this post, I really enjoyed this whole listening experience and know I will be definitely revisiting it and listening again, many more times.
*Side note. If you want a chance at winning a giveaway, for one listening pack of Half Man || Half Bull, head to my main instagram @MissLDemirel
To check out the Half Man || Half Bull website, or to buy a copy of the listening pack, head here: https://www.halfmanhalfbull.com/
Half Man || Half Bull Instagram: @HalfmanhalfbullUK
One Show at a Time 