THE ODYSSEY adapted from Homer by Rick Chafe (Driftwood Theatre Group). Touring southern Ontario through August 18. Pwyc ($15 suggested). Schedule and venues at driftwoodtheatre.com. See listings. Rating: NNNN
For the first time in its history, touring troupe Driftwood Theatre Group stages a summer show that’s not Shakespeare. Instead, they’re presenting a different classic, Homer’s epic Odyssey, about the 20-year journey of Greek hero Odysseus to fight at Troy and his lengthy trip home.
In Rick Chafe’s fine adaptation, directed by D. Jeremy Smith, the production is an exciting evening of theatre under the stars.
Chafe moves back and forth in time, alternating between showing us Odysseus’s adventures with the Cyclops, Sirens, Lotus Eaters and various immortals and the difficult time that his wife, Penelope, has with the suitors vying for her hand. The playwright cleverly creates two versions of Odysseus: an old man (Tim Machin) who tells the tales and a young man (Christopher Darroch) who acts out the exploits.
The eight-person company doubles in multiple roles, including the suitors, led by Eurymachus (Andy Pogson), who suggest drunken frat boys on an especially beer-filled weekend, and Odysseus’s ever-shrinking crew, with such anachronistic names as Jonesy (Sedina Fiati), Sid (Chris George) and Solo (Janick Hebert).
They’re all fine, with especially strong and emotionally sincere work by Darroch and Machin as the central character, a born wanderer and adventurer who can’t stop thinking about his next exciting encounter with the unknown.
Sarah Machin Gale’s Penelope, as striking a figure as Margaret Atwood’s in The Penelopiad, is fully rounded, too, an angry, distrustful woman unable any longer to put up with the demanding suitors and as clever and perceptive as her husband. Only in the last few minutes of the play, after the reunion of husband and wife, does Gale lose her earlier fire.
Chafe’s script, sometimes poetic, sometimes comically contemporary, gives a background for the characters and provides witty dialogue for Penelope and the disguised Odysseus. It occasionally rises to impressive heights, such as during Odysseus’s powerful speech to his son, Telemachus, at the end of the first act and in the scene in which the hero meets faceless, demanding ghosts in the underworld.
Other pluses are the scenic design by Smith and Melanie McNeill’s costumes, incorporating puppets and lots of flowing or gathered draperies. The giant Cyclops (Lori Nancy Kalamanski, who plays most of the monsters), for instance, is a large eye high on a pole.
This action-filled Odyssey, packed with theatrical surprises, is great entertainment for a summer’s night.
