I gave the Kneehigh production of The Odyssey a less than enthusiastic welcome recently, so it's only fair to present three reviews, from the British Theatre Guide, The Guardian and Reviews Gate.

The Odyssey

By Homer, adapted by David Farr

Bristol Old Vic



Review by Pete Wood (2005)

Reconfiguring Bristol Old Vic's 18th century interior to create a theatre in the round has, apparently, been a longstanding ambition of David Farr and Simon Reade, joint artistic directors of the Old Vic. Well, one says 'longstanding', but in fact it dates back two years to when they took over the helm of the ailing theatre, now in rude health. This Odyssey is, perhaps, Farr's last voyage since he is due to ship out shortly to assume directorship of the Lyric Hammersmith.

This production already has a 'buzz' about it. I'm told early viewers have already re-booked for another outing, while I overheard one excited audience member on the phone to a friend or family member in the interval, "It's wonderful - so imaginative". Reviews thus far have been mixed, the show wowing one critic and leaving another, at least, moored in the dock of the bay.

For this is no straightforward, if such a thing is possible, adaptation, of Homer's epic poem. Rather Farr, who directed an acclaimed adaptation here last year of another epic, Paradise Lost, has reconceived Odysseus as one shipwrecked on these shores in the present day where, in a country obsessed by asylum seekers and illegal immigrants, he receives a rough welcome.

Fair enough, you may think. Farr is bringing a classic to a new audience and exploring its meaning in the light of current events. The problem is that the move seems principally motivated by a desire to indulge in some pretty heavy-handed satire of our attitude to outsiders and, despite a sense of fair play, to ride roughshod over the rights of others when we feel threatened.

And it means accepting that a stranger, telling tales of one-eyed flesh-eating monsters and goddesses able to turn men into pigs, would be believed and then put on a flight back to his homeland because the stories have moved an immigration official so, at the risk to his job, we are told. Quite how our hero came to be so far off course as to make it here is also unexplained.

Having got the objections out of the way first, it has to be said that there is much to enjoy in this sparkling production which is full of incident, not a little wit, and is well-performed by the cast of six who double up and even treble roles. It is boosted too by a musical score, devised and co-performed by the enviably multi-talented Stu Barker, with the cast, among whom Colin Mace (Roger, Interrogator One et al) and the lovely Agni Tsangariou (Maria, et al) shine particularly brightly. It would be invidious too to leave out Robert Bowman as the intrepid Odysseus.

The set, by Angela Davies, which see the aisles of the Old Vic transformed into the deck of a ship, is very nicely done. And the creation of Cyclops with a single lamp is a lovely touch. Homer's poetry surfaces occasionally but, to be honest, is largely absent. Still, if the production brings new readers to The Odyssey and return visitors to the theatre it will have done much.

Two moments in the production which linger: the two interrogators turning immigration procedures into a song and dance number in a particular moment of light tough and the assembled cast singing a lament to their homeland left behind in a particular moment of pathos.

Lyn Gardner
Saturday February 26, 2005
The Guardian

A stocky man wearing jeans and a T-shirt is washed up on the shore and is discovered by two immigration officers. "He's trying to get in under our noses," says one. "Bloody illegals," says the other. "You're going home, sunshine," says the first. "I want to go home," sighs the man. He is Odysseus, the wily Greek general who triumphantly ended the siege of Troy and has been tossed for over a decade on the high seas as he tries to make it home.

It is the emotional pain of exile and the meaning of home that provides the swell and tug of David Farr's gripping retelling of Homer's epic. There is a lot of refashioning going on here. Not only has Homer been transposed to the 21st century and the narrative reordered, but Bristol's 18th-century playhouse has been turned into a theatre in the round. Angela Davies provides a miraculous design where the flotsam and jetsam of rusty masts and old barrels washed up on a shore becomes the means to make a play.

The aesthetic owes much to Kneehigh in its simple, unaffected honesty, its belief in storytelling, the childlike (but never childish) wonder of theatre and its willingness to engage with its audience. The actors share the stage with puppets, Cyclops is a large lamp on a stick and the final moments when the survivors of sacked Troy - seeking asylum but longing for their lost homes - relive their terror and pain is an exhilarating demonstration of the healing possibilities of the imagination. Farr's ensemble is superb, Stu Baker's music is an atmospheric Mediterranean weave of the idiosyncratic and the haunting, and although the show loses energy after the interval, it mostly has the wind in its sails.

· Until March 12. Box office: 0117-987 7877. Then touring.

Running Time: Approx 2 hours and 20 minutes with one interval of 15 minutes Review: Stewart McGill, 1 March 2005


Total re-imagining of an epic: magnificent

David Farr is a most prolific writer and director. No sooner have we left his two most recent Shakespeare productions for the RSC (Julius Caesar) and his own Bristol Old Vic (Twelfth Night) behind he plunges us headlong into a total re-imagining of Homer’s epic Odyssey, his own adaptation, as a play for today.

The revelation begins with the complete transformation of the oldest working theatre in the UK’s horseshoe auditorium into a complete arena enabling the power and ferocity of the tale to be both immediate and compelling. This year theatre has explored crossroads – areas of imagination where the living meet the dead and past and present collide. I felt this sense of collision at Propeller’s The Winter’s Tale and here as a contemporary Odysseus defends his status as immigrant to brutal officers in scenes with a strong hint of Martin MacDonagh’s The Pillowman. The exiled soldier, beautifully played by Rob Bowman is compelled to tell his story of journey from Troy en route to Ithica evoking memories and images from the voyage.

Using visual imagery including a magnificent Cyclops and chilling Trojan Horse the company of 7 evoke worlds of both mythology and contemporainety. From the harshness of the immigration centre to the Kingdom of The Dead where lost souls, masked and ancient, return the story to its roots. The ensemble playing reminiscent of Kneehigh (sharing the same composer Stu Baker) is fascinating and how good it is to see many companies at all levels returning to the fundamental principles of the ensemble.

This may not be the long awaited full scale realisation of Homer’s epic drama, it is very selective in the episodes recounted and for or audiences seeking the sweep of the ancient world it will be lacking. Yet it has a beauty of its own and a reminder that many have tales to tell, lands and families lost, barbaric regimes to flee from and a quest to complete.

David Farr leaves the Bristol Old Vic after this project and moves to Lyric, Hammersmith. It will be a huge loss, no doubt Simon Reade – joint Artistic Director has many plans and adventures ahead. Farr gave a new identity, more in line with experiment than ever before and he saves, possibly the most radical work to the end. This Odyssey suggests a wonderful future for the Hammersmith and – you heard it here first – a strong contender for Director of the National Theatre. Go to Bristol before 12th March!

Cast: Odysseus: Robert Bowman, Athena: Dave Fishley, Roger (Interrogator One): Colin Mace, Harold (Interrogator Two): Stuart McLoughlin, Circe: Mia Soteriou, Maira: Agni Tsangaridou, Musician: Stu Barker/Peter Troake.

Creative Team: Adaptor/Director: David Farr, Designer: Angela Davies, Composer: Stu Barker, Lighting Designer: Chris Davey, Sound Designer: Jason Barnes, Choreographer: Ann M Yee, Puppet Designer and Director: Mervyn Millar, Puppet Consultant: Sue Buckmaster, Fight Director: Terry King, Dailect Coah: Gary Owston.