‘Please don’t fart, this is art’ – Stephen Sondheim’s musical The Frogs review

Southwark Playhouse, London A droll Dionysos, an ab-obsessed himbo and a waddling ballet for goggle-clad frogs can’t outshine Sondheim’s songs in this rarely seen version of the ancient Greek satireThe interval playlist includes Crazy Frog, which isn’t by Stephen Sondheim. But the composer’s own springy numbers are the best reason to catch this rarely seen musical based on ancient Greek satire.Aristophanes, writing at the fag end of a protracted war, conjures demigod Dionysos, accompanied by Xanthias, his slave (“though I prefer ‘intern’”). He braves the underworld to reclaim a dead genius, picking Aeschylus over Euripides. The musical’s Dionysos considers George Bernard Shaw, but eventually plumps for Shakespeare. Continue reading...

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