If you fancy some free, critically acclaimed open-air theatre over the next couple of days why not catch one of the last performances of my production of The Odyssey, a re-imagining of one of the world's greatest adventure stories.
Ancient Greece's epic text is presented as a thrilling open-air theatre experience played out in The Scoop amphitheatre overlooking Tower Bridge - and it's completely free.
It’s a narrative account of the Greek warrior Odysseus’s journey home from the Trojan war, attributed to a writer called Homer. Although the timeline doesn’t bare too close a scrutiny, a voyage which Google maps tells us should have taken him two months, instead takes him twenty years!
You can experience the entire three-hour, three-part story across one fantastical evening or over two visits on Saturday and Sunday night.
There's no need to book - just show up before 6pm, around 5.30pm to get the best seats. There's room for 1,000 people at every performance but bring a cushion for comfort on the stone seats and warm clothes as it can feel chilly when the sun goes down.
The nightly performance schedule from Friday 2nd – Sunday 3rd September is as follows:
6pm- 7pm PART ONE: A GREAT BIG GREEK ADVENTURE
This first part will excite explorers of all ages as our hero Odysseus sets off from Troy, yearning to return home. Suitable for all the family, this engaging first play is jam-packed full of adventure as our hero battles both gods and monsters.
7:30pm – 9.40pm PARTS TWO & THREE: THE POWER OF LOVE & THE HOMECOMING
Part two is a play for the romantic at heart, as Odysseus and his crew are confronted by tempting sirens and passionate goddesses. Odysseus struggles to stay faithful to his wife, Penelope, whilst she is besieged by suitors at home. Can their love survive with the two kept so far apart and for so long?
After the interval Odysseus must adapt to a changed world as he finally returns to face the perils of reclaiming his former kingdom and reuniting with his loved ones. The hauntingly beautiful final play is a celebration of home and family.
In the cast are: Toyin Ayedun-Alase, Lincoln James, P K Taylor, Lawrence Boothman, Rebecca Layoo, Molly Crookes, Alec Porter, Adrian Decosta, and Henry Wyrley-Birch.
Although I've directed a lot of classical work I discovered, earlier this year that I'd never actually read The Odyssey. It was love at first sight. I couldn't believe how quickly I got sucked in and became as absorbed by it as by anything in say, Game of Thrones (which I love) and which it influenced.
Although it was supposedly first written down by someone called Homer after centuries of being passed on by professional storytellers, there’s very little evidence that such a person existed. What I'm interested in is the hundreds of people who took the kernel of plot and embellished it through repetition down the generations. The challenge I set the actors is that they had to convey the story with just a replication of the language the ancient story tellers used, with minimal costume changes and props. The audience response has been phenomenal and the production’s attracted many four star reviews. With the weather forecast looking good all weekend why not join us for, what I'm told is, an unforgettable evening that’s a perfect introduction to live theatre and Greek myth for all ages.
I was surprised to receive a press release recently promoting the last chance to see the west end transfer of Robert Icke’s critically acclaimed production of Hamlet starring the multi award-winning Andrew Scott and which closes at the Harold Pinter Theatre on 2 September 2017.