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Dateline: 27th January, 2006
Farr Retells The Odyssey at Hammersmith After writer/director David Farr's recent controversial and highly acclaimed adaptation of Marlowe's Tamburlaine at The Barbican (part of the Young Genius season), he now re-visits his adaptation of Homer's The Odyssey in a brand new production. Set in a modern detention centre, the production mixes exuberant theatrical story-telling with contemporary political provocation. The Greek general Odysseus is washed up on the shores of a great city. He is immediately arrested by two bored immigration officers, Roger and Harold. Odysseus has only one desire - to get home. But to do that he must convince them who he really is. He must tell his story. Farr's highly theatrical adaptation uses the Odysseus myth to play with contemporary questions of war, imperialism, and asylum. It explores the psychology of Western war-mongering and painfully evokes the resulting fragmentation of war-torn populations into migrant peoples in search of a new home. Farr has assembled an ensemble cast of actors, singers, musicians and puppeteers to reinvent the story of one of the great classical heroes. The Odyssey follows Farr's radical re-workings of other classical stories: Paradise Lost (Bristol Old Vic) in which Eden was an experimental biosphere, Crime and Punishment in Dalston (Arcola Theatre) which took Dostoyevsky on to the streets of Hackney, and The UN Inspector (National Theatre) which brought Gogol into the post-Soviet political world. Odysseus is played by rising star Stephen Noonan, who played Satan in Farr's version of Paradise Lost and received rave reviews last year for his work at Chichester (5/11, King Lear). He is joined by actor/musicians Dave Fishey, Colin Mace, Stuart McLoughlin, Celia Meiras and Mia Soteriou and musician Peter Troake. Joining David Farr to create The Odyssey is designer Angela Davies. Angela and David have collaborated on many shows including two Almeida operas, the award-winning A Midsummer Night's Dream at Bristol Old Vic and most recently the Lyric Christmas show The Magic Carpet. Completing the creative team are Composer Stu Barker and Lighting Designer Chris Davey. David is a long-time admirer of Stu Barker's work, which includes music for Kneehigh Theatre's Tristan and Yseult and most recently for Emma Rice's Nights at the Circus at Lyric Hammersmith. Chris Davey's extensive credits include the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. Please note that all three Archive indices are very long and will therefore take some time to download.
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