Review: PREY MOST DIFFICULT Offers a Modern Take on a Great Irish Legend

We all grow up with fairy tales, magical stories that always seem to assume that another, parallel world with other-worldly creatures are just around the corner, in the woods, or just across that lake.  The idea of magical powers which are just within our grasp also figures into these stories.  As we grow older, we want to keep something of that mystery alive in us, and find new ways to tell the old stories, wielding those magical powers, but placing them in the here-and-now to keep them alive.

This year, the District Fringe Festival hosts a talented young performer, Erin Ellbogen, who takes us on a half-magical, half-film noir journey, in Corvin Kevlihan’s “Prey Most Difficult.”  Taken from one of the most memorable legends attributed to the Irish bard Oisin (or Ossian, as you wish), this one-woman show has us living in two worlds at once, with a reminder that the protagonists in Oisin’s original legend once lived in a ‘modern day’ of their own. 

Ellbogen assumes the persona of Oisin, whose half-deer, half-human origins are bluntly described in very, very modern terms.  Her encounter with a princess whose face was made into a pig’s—through a process described in vivid terms here, advisory included— and a princess who can only restore her human face through marriage, takes Oisin on a grand adventure to the princess’ kingdom beyond this world. 

In a nod to the old Celtic, bardic tradition we are treated to a poetic duel between Oisin and the King of the fairies (the princess’ evil father).  The meter and form established, and this being a modern version, we see the king and our heroine battle to the death with haiku as their weapon of choice; each 14-syllable thrust and parry is counted on a white board; and, this being Oisin’s story, Oisin naturally wins.

The subsequent chapter is a somewhat cautionary tale, where the Land of the Fairies turns out to be less than Oisin had imagined, with herself being treated as an outsider almost from the moment she has won.  The way that the twists and turns of the original myth are grounded in our own reality is fascinating, and the consequences of Oisin’s alienation bring the tale to a compelling end.

“Prey Most Difficult” is a solid early effort at breathing new life into epic poetry the likes of which we think are long gone—but Kevlihan reminds us that it’s only through lack of effort and imagination that they are gone, because they can live again on our lips once we understand the power still resides in us.

Running time:  60 minutes, without intermission.

Production Poster by Art By @Longdogdandy.

Performances of “Prey Most Difficult” will be at The Phoenix Theatre, located at 3305 Van Ness St NW, Building 44, Room 44A03—just follow the signs!—on the campus of the University of the District of Columbia (the Van Ness Metro Station).