Persephone’s Lunch is a multi-disciplinary feast for the senses. Taking its inspiration from Homer’s Odyssey, it is a hymn to the beauty of the world and how it can be experienced in the imagination and in the body.

According to Umberto Eco “The Odyssey is the search for a story that does not yet exist, the story that will become The Odyssey.” Persephone’s Lunch unfolds within this context as Christopher House examines such contemporary issues as gender politics, media manipulation and the pitfalls of the Internet. The choreography is loose and lanky, sensual and percussive, performed with spontaneity and virtuosity.

James Robertson’s hanging décors simultaneously evoke a banquet, a ship and a mythical landscape. Pomegranates are ubiquitous in Persephone’s Lunch, underscoring the mood of sensuality that is present throughout the piece. A video screen projects intermittent images that delight and surprise while commenting on the action.

Phil Strong’s seductive score has a distinctly Mediterranean beat, while quoting sources from Perotin to trance. The lighting, by Roelof Peter Snippe, evokes the intense Grecian light and its golden sunsets. Anna Michener’s costumes are sexy and elegant. In this work, design elements serve to integrate a wealth of intellectual and movement ideas into a seamless and radiant performance event.

A fascinating reading of a timeless text, Persephone’s Lunch was acclaimed as the Best of 2001 in the Toronto weekly NOW and The Globe and Mail.