Orlando Fringe 2025 review: ‘Aquila: Pole Dance x Prometheus Bound’

In Ancient Greek mythology, Aquila was the name of the eagle that daily devoured Prometheus’ liver as Zeus’ punishment for giving fire to mankind. In Project no.19’s radical retelling of this formative fable for Orlando Fringe, the tortured titan is embodied by Sakura, a manacled pole dancer dressed in diaphanous white. She makes a dramatic entrance, materializing out of the darkness suspended in midair, backlit in red and surrounded by a black-clad chorus urging her to shatter her chains.

This striking image initiates an innovative reimagining that gives the familiar tale a feminist perspective. Writer-director Max Pinsky adapts Aeschylus with a fine feeling for the classical voice, while making the language accessible for untrained modern ears. Among the all-woman supporting cast, Katherine Reiss makes an especially strong impression as Io, a vestal virgin vilified for rejecting a god’s groping whose standout monologue makes explicit the theme of Olympian arrogance.

The pole-dancing segments are impressively graceful but unfortunately infrequent, leaving the central performer to spend most of the show silently writhing while an offstage actress (Yinelly Marie Pastrana) speaks for her. I’m not sure if this is an intentionally Brechtian artistic choice, but it left me emotionally distanced and dramatically disconnected from what should have been a harrowing situation. Several stage combat sequences are unconvincing, and barely 40 minutes into its advertised 60-minute runtime the show reaches a confusingly abrupt climax completely lacking in catharsis, the most essential element of any Greek tragedy. Ultimately, Aquila is an intriguing experiment that feels unfinished in its present form, but I’d love to someday see this spark of an idea blossom into a bonfire.

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This article appears in May 14-20, 2025.