Lucius wanted to be turned into a bird, but the spell went awry. Photo / Getty Images
Lucius wanted to be turned into a bird, but the spell went awry. Photo / Getty Images
It'll be interesting to see what Michael Hurst plucks from Lucius' The Golden Ass to present to us at Repertory Theatre early next month.
He's staging his one-man show as part of the Arts on Tour programme and will be here on July 4.
The Golden Ass is apicaresque novel of transformation and the foolishness of men. It reminds me a lot of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Written in the second century AD, it tells the story of Lucius, a man of insatiable appetites, who wants to be transformed into a bird. He persuades his lady love to do the deed after they've spied on a witch changing into a bird but — you guessed it — he is turned into a donkey instead.
Lucius the donkey has many adventures while he unsuccessfully searches for the rose he must eat to become a man again, sometimes being treated well and at others being beaten.
In the original text there are a lot of inset stories such as the story of Cupid and Psyche or The Tale of the Jealous Husband, The Tale of the Wife's Bath. Will Michael Hurst incorporate these stories within his stage play? Perhaps he'll narrate them as part of the production. We'll just have to wait and see at Repertory Theatre on July 4.
