Nowhere else in the Upper School’s (US) English curriculum is a text packed with comparable moments of adventure and fantastical depictions of mythical creatures than “The Odyssey.” At the American Repertory Theater in Harvard Square, I got to view “The Odyssey” onstage on Feb. 28 through the US Petropoulos Art Scholars Program, coordinated by US Chorale and Music Teacher Joel Sindelar and US English Teacher Sam Crihfield.
A more feminist twist on Homer’s traditional epic, playwright and actress Kate Hamill’s three-hour adaptation focuses on the experiences of Odysseus’ wife Penelope and son Telemachus as they grapple with Odysseus’ 20-year absence during the Trojan War. Sailing through the Aegean Sea to reunite with their families in Ithaca, Odysseus and his crew become sidetracked after angering cyclops Polyphemus and being tricked by enchantress Circe and the infamous Sirens. Back at home, suitors court Penelope, to the dismay of a protective Telemachus. Deviating from the traditional plot, the lead suitor, Amphinomus, ends up forming an intimate relationship with Penelope, who cheats on her husband.
Hamill’s rendition of “The Odyssey” opens with Odysseus washing the blood off his hands from the costly victory at Troy. Although the Greek forces defeated the city through Odysseus’ ingenious Trojan Horse, Odysseus feels lasting regret for the devastation he wreaked. Three women, including Hamill, follow Odysseus throughout the play as figments of his imagination, emphasizing that Odysseus cannot move past the death and damage he inflicted upon others. I appreciated that “The Odyssey” moves beyond the traditional epic’s focus on Odysseus’ adventures and, instead, examines how Odysseus heals after ruthlessly murdering innocent families.
The play deftly balances heavy moments of reflection and grief with lighthearted ones, especially in the first of the three acts. In the suitors’ introduction, they hilariously stroll onto the stage wearing oversized fur coats and sunglasses while dancing to hip-hop music, contrasting with the rest of the cast’s austere costumes. Characters also make an over-the-top effort to swear, generating laughs the first few times, but after a while, Hamill’s effort to connect with the modern audience feels gratuitous.
My favorite part of “The Odyssey” was easily the first-act scene in Polyphemus’ cyclops lair. The three female narrators wear sheep hats, only speak in “baas,” and, as Polyphemus’ prize possession, they comically dance for him. After Odysseus convinces Polyphemus to drink his wine, the intoxicated cyclops admits his faults in front of the audience, confessing, “They say I’m a stupid runt, but everything’s all right!”
Played by Hamill, Circe tricks Odysseus into cheating on his wife with her at the beginning of act two. The sorceress demands the truth from Odysseus regarding Troy and claims that “men will blame whatever gods they wish” for their misfortune to evade responsibility for their personal mistakes. In Ithaca, Penelope subtly reveals Odysseus’ flaw of infidelity even while married to her, marring the epic’s traditional portrayal of Odysseus as a valiant, faithful character. While weaving a burial shroud for her husband, Penelope knowingly cheats with Amphinomus as Odysseus watches, horrified, through a magic portal. Circe emphasizes that Penelope could not “absorb Odysseus’ sins on top of her own” because she had her own temptations, justifying Penelope’s unfaithfulness.
By the second intermission, I realized that the production got its name not just from Homer’s epic but its three-hour runtime. The final act decries the fantasy of Odysseus as a heroic character by highlighting his flaws and his rejection of the destruction he unleashed upon Troy. When Odysseus approaches the sirens, he instructs his men to take out the wax they placed in their ears. Wearing grotesque doll-like dresses, the sirens dance with the sailors underneath piercing strobe lights before luring them to their deaths.
While the suitors back in Ithaca demand Penelope marry one of them, Odysseus washes up on an island and meets Nausicaa, princess of Scheria. Nausicaa sees the good in Odysseus but demands to know his name and life story. Once Odysseus explains how he became the “king of deception,” Nausicaa instructs him to return to Ithaca because he cannot pretend that the past did not happen. Penelope unveils her finished shroud and is about to choose her next husband when Odysseus arrives and begins fighting the suitors with Telemachus, who is overjoyed to meet his father. Odysseus and Telemachus kill the suitors, except Amphinomus, whom they leave alive to Penelope’s pleading. However, unlike in Homer’s epic, Odysseus and Penelope do not embrace.
In the final scene, Penelope recognizes that her husband is a flawed character. Voices echoing from Odysseus’ three internal voices repeat that “if we cannot go back, maybe we can go forward … What’s done cannot be undone.” The play ends on a cliffhanger consistent with Hamill’s message: Penelope— and the audience—is unsure if she will accept her husband again. Even during bows, the actors did not smile.
Hamill’s “The Odyssey” is not intended to have a satisfying ending. Instead, it forces the audience to wrestle with her more serious interpretation of the classic epic.
Rating: 4.1/5
