Overview
On the surface, life seems happy for the Minoans, but King Minos harbours a terrible secret. Hidden beneath his palace in Crete, the Minotaur roams the dark labyrinth built to contain it. Half man, half beast, the ferocious monster lays great demands on Minos. Its latest request? For human beings…to eat.
Driven to madness by the Minotaur, Minos sails with his navy to the shores of Athens to conquer King Aegeus. While Aegeus manages to avoid war, he does so only by offering 14 Athenian children as sacrifices to the Minotaur, including his own son, Theseus.
Can Theseus, with the help of King Minos’ frustrated daughter, Ariadne, save the children and remove the threat of the Minotaur once and for all?
Synopsis
The Minotaur musical opens with the Minoans, the inhabitants of Crete, going about their daily lives. As portrayed in the opening song (THE GREAT MINOANS), they are an advanced and prosperous society that leads full and happy lives.
Back at his palace, King Minos discusses his concerns about the safety and security of the labyrinth with his architect, Daedalus. Suddenly, an attendant rushes in with bad news: the Minotaur is tired of its diet of rabbits and is demanding bigger and better food, namely, humans.
This is more than Minos can handle. Ignoring the pleas his daughter, Ariadne, to stay on Crete and spend time with her, Minos leaves with his naval fleet to go to war with Athens. Meanwhile, his attendants become worried about the Minotaur, their main concern being the possibility of being offered as a sacrifice (WE’RE ON THE MENU).
In Athens, King Aegeus’ guards see a fleet of Cretan ships approaching the mainland. Aegeus decides that the best way forward is to allow Minos to land in the hope of reasoning with him. However, it becomes clear that Minos is not in a reasonable mood, so Aegeus comes up with a different plan to avoid war.
Aegeus offers Minos a way out of his Minotaur problem by gifting him seven boys and seven girls as food for the Minotaur. Minos agrees and sails back to Crete (HEY KING MINOS).
When the people of Athens hear of this decision they are beside themselves with grief. Aegeus' son, Prince Theseus, believes he has the answer. He vows to kill the Minotaur and save the children. Aegeus does not believe this is possible, but with a heavy heart he allows Theseus to replace one of the other children and go to Crete (CHILDREN OF ATHENS).
When Theseus and the children arrive in Crete, Theseus announces to Minos that he is going to kill the Minotaur which causes hilarity between Minos and his court. Ariadne, however, is confident that she can help Theseus and steals herself away, closely followed by some of the guards, to go and extract the labyrinth plans from Daedalus.
With the plans, a sword and a ball of string, she meets Theseus. She explains to him her boredom with the island and her wish to leave, and offers her help in return for an escape from Crete (BORED).
When morning arrives, Theseus and the children are taken to the labyrinth. While the other children wait inside the entrance, Theseus creeps through the labyrinth, unwinding a ball of string as he goes so that he can follow it back on his return. When Theseus and the Minotaur finally face one another, Theseus kills the monster (THESEUS OUR HERO).
Everyone is surprised and overjoyed when Theseus reappears from the maze with the children and with the news that the Minotaur is no more. Minos is sad when he sees Ariadne leaving with Theseus and realises he should have spent more time with her. Minos and Ariadne mend their differences as the celebrations begin (THE GREAT MINOANS – REPRISE).
