When you step into the tiny Mill Theatre at Dairy Road in Fyshwick, you feel like you're somewhere special, even secret.
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The complex includes, among other enterprises, Capital Brewing and Grainger Gallery, and tucked away inside is the Mill Theatre.
It's all peak 2024, and peak modern Canberra - and it's about to be visited by the ancient Greeks, who will have no problem making themselves at home.
Mill will be the hosting two Canberra performances of the British theatre company Wright & Grainger's show Helios.
The company specialises in retelling the myths of ancient Greece in a contemporary context, and its shows have been performed hundreds of times - at the Edinburgh Fringe and around Britain as well as in Australia, New Zealand, Bali and off-Broadway in New York City.
And now, on their fifth Australian tour, Wright & Grainger are coming the ACT for the first time, working with Canberra's Lexi Sekuless Productions and Dionysus to present two performances of Helios.
Well, half will - the Wright half.
Alexander Wright - who's the sole performer on stage - said his collaboration with Phil composer Grainger goes back a long way.
"We've written a lot of shows together. I write the scripts, he writes the scores."
For Helios, Wright will bring the epic story to life in an intimate way, with words, pieces of paper, lights and not much else.
Accompanying the storytelling will be Grainger's prerecorded score, which Wright describes as cinematic.
There are differing versions of the Greek myth of Helios and Phaeton - which is strikingly depicted in Renaissance artist Peter Paul Rubens' painting The Fall of Phaeton - but some elements are pretty consistent.
The sun god Helios drove a golden chariot across the sky each day from east to west, providing the Earth with, among other things, hours and seasons. Phaeton was Helios's mortal son but the boy was taunted for claiming the sun god as his father.
In order to confirm their relationship, Helios swore he would grant his son a wish. Phaeton wanted to undertake the sky crossing himself. Helios tried to dissuade him, knowing the horses would be too strong for him, but failed and was bound to honour his oath. Phaeton took the reins and set off but, just as Helios feared, the boy lost control and fell to his death.
Other versions have various other details, such as Zeus striking Phaeton down with a thunderbolt because the out of control, fire-breathing horses and extremely hot chariot were flying too close to the Earth and scorching parts of it and too far away and freezing other parts.
Wright has not attempted anything like a literal retelling but his story has parallels and thematic similarities.
Although the story might be seen as a cautionary tale against taking on things that are beyond you and not listening to wise elders, Wright sees more to it than which Helios, set in a village in rural England, explores.
Wright's Phaeton is a teenager whose parents have separated.
One of his classmates at school is Michael Dale.
"As they grow up they find some companionship in each other's restlessness."
Phaeton's father is a commercial aeroplane pilot who works long hours and the boy often watches the aeroplane in flight.
"He thinks his dad is pulling the sun across the sky," Wright says.
"In the garage of their home is a bright gold Ford Mercury, a family heirloom.
"Phaeton decides to drive to the city to find his father."
The rest of the story can wait for the performance but while acknowledging the cautionary element of the myth, Wright says in his retelling there are other aspects such as "instilling a passionate sense of pride in ourselves and achieving the things we want to...You get to define your place in the world."
And there are other strands to the story, such as science - at one point, Michael and Phaeton do a classroom presentation on the sun.
Wright and Grainger grew up in a village in the north of England. They still live there, living only a few minutes apart - and started playing gigs together when they were 14. They began creating theatre together in 2016 with Orpheus. Among their company's other shows are Eurydice and The Gods The Gods The Gods, all of them recontextualising the Greek myths that still resonate.
"They illuminate the human condition," Wright says.
- Helios is on at the Mill Theatre at Dairy Road on Saturday, March 23 at 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Coarse language. See: milltheatreatdairyroad.com.