Children of Odysseus

Based on Homer

4m & 4f; age 9+; first produced by zwinger 3 Heidelberg, 2009

 

If Homer’s epic saga is to be told today, the text must be viewed from a modern perspective, so that the present can throw “light upon the past”: “If Valéry’s thesis is true, the best of the new would correspond to an ancient need, and so authentic works are those that criticize the works of the past” (Theodor W. Adorno). The adventures of Odysseus fulfil many of the “ancient needs”: the story depicts a great quest, a journey into the unknown, filled with tests, battles, losses, horrors and true love. And so if the tale is to be reenacted today – especially for a young audience – it must succeed in taking this pre-civilization myth seriously and at the same time elucidating it in terms relevant to the present. Lee Beagley and Anna Siegrot do just this, by presenting the heroic father from the perspective of his child and all his descendants:

 “Since time immemorial children have been confronted by the same questions, at the centre of which lie matters connected with the family, with role models and with one’s own identity. Through the parallel action of characters from our own time getting involved in the ancient myth, these questions are shown in a new light for the young audience. Not least among them is the complex subject of retaliation and revenge. What or who can break the vicious circle of ‘an eye for an eye?’” (Alexandra Luise Gesch, dramaturg)

 

Besetzung: 4 Dame(n) , 4 Herr(en)
Alter: empfohlen ab 9
Uraufführung: zwinger 3, Heidelberg

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