Odyssey, originally created by Northland Youth Theatre, is a multi-layered theatrical explosion brimming with vivid imagery and enthralling story telling. Full of intrigue and adventure, this archetypal tale of absence and reunion infiltrates every modern myth. An eclectic cast of young local and Northland theatre-makers haul a skeleton vessel through the playing space, mixing rich chorus work and stark industrial aesthetics with a responsive and intricate live soundtrack. Odyssey combines intimate theatre and epic Greek tragedy in a powerful reinvention of this ancient tale. This piece is immersive and consuming, tragic and delightful.

 

As Odysseus struggles home from the Trojan War, battling angry gods, lustrous goddesses, foreboding prophecies, and eventually the death of his crew, his son Telemachus battles the dilemma of an absent parent and must go on his own journey to discover his history and track down the father he never met. Penelope, his wife, waits in a decaying household, restlessly hoping for news of her husband, or a sign that he’ll be coming back.

 

Odyssey examines the personal human dilemmas of the effect of war, following one’s destiny, engaging with one’s whakapapa, and examining the spiritual connection with one’s home.

 

There will be shipwrecks, prophecies, battles and bicycles, one-eyed monsters and hungry giants, singing, feasting and finding your way back home... This is an Odyssey unlike any you've been on.

 

Directed by Laurel Devenie and Katy Maudlin. 
Design by Ashley Holwell.