Onysos the Wild

An old man lurks in a New York subway station drinking, striking matches and chalking symbols on a bench. He eyes passers-by intently, and you can almost smell the build-up of grime on his many layers of clothing.

When he speaks, his voice is not what you'd expect, and when you look closer, his appearance is a surprise, too. You'll believe his claim that he is becoming more youthful with every passing minute.

He is Onysos - a leader of men who has finally found a place to call home in the city of immigrants, where he reckons recruits for any future battles should be easy to find.

Actor Chris Porter gives a gripping, extremely vivid account of his character's remarkable life, starting with his death. Or rather, starting with his birth then swiftly followed by a grim account of his few hours on Earth as a mortal infant. Re-born, he fled his humble village and became a seductive pied piper, luring women with howls then enlisting their men, too.

Laurent Gaude's script is wonderfully evocative and slyly humorous. If the tale loses a little of its impetus after the vagrant army's first battle victory, Porter never allows the pace to drop.

When the subway rumbles back to life and he announces 'We have talked for the whole night,' we're left to ponder just how wrong our first impressions were - but regardless of whether he's an immortal warrior or just a crazy old bum, it's still a fascinating story.