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Sat. Nov. 21 "Rub a dub dub, two actors in a tub/And who do you think they be?/A man returning from a war, his wife Penelope/A witch who turns men into pigs/A whirlpool in the sea/And all the other things that make a play of 'The Odyssey.'" Whether you have never seen the play or read the book, are trying to refresh your memory or even cram for an exam, or just want a brief but still impressive night of theater that is off the beaten path but still in town, The Charlestown Working  Theater’s return engagement of “The Odyssey” is for you!After a sold-out set last year, creators/designers/performers Jennifer Johnson and John Peitso have further enhanced the production and brought it back for another run of intimate black box-wrapped presentations that take Homer’s epic as their jumping off point but also involve other great works including T.S. Eliot’s “The Wasteland” and William Byrd’s “Penelope That Longed for Sight.” Wide-ranging and yet easily and effectively contained in a turning, tipping, never fully stable but always well-used 15-foot boat, this “Odyssey” combines timeless themes with contemporary nuances that make it work as both retelling and reinterpretation. Through sudden snatches of multi-instrumented music and songs that go from sea shanties to bluesy riffs, shadow puppetry and fire-eating, and simple costumes that include a seafoam scarf to protect the lonely would-be widow Penelope, a miner’s lamp to represent the one-eyed Cyclops, and a shell-encrusted mask that transforms from Circe’s hat to the deathly face of Charon, the ferryman across the River Styx, the pair of performers transform very little into quite a lot and keep the story moving just as the set itself continues to! Sometimes spinning in a whirlpool; other times lolling in a harbor, the production touches on the major points of the original story while focusing more attention on the more personal and intimate elements, such as the confused emotions of Odysseus’ two main lovers and his own uncertainty about which way to go and what to do once he arrives. Compact yet complex, CWT’s production of “The Odyssey” is anything but a nursery rhyme and yet should appeal to audiences of many ages and interests.
It's up for the last time Saturday Nov. 21. Show at 8. Tickets are $20 ($15 for students and seniors) (Contributed by Matt Robinson)
442 Bunker Hill St., 617-242-3285Charlestown, www.workingtheater.org
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