The Odyssey: Missing Presumed Dead
Everyman Theatre, Liverpool
4/5

A SLEAZY prime minister is number crunching with his spin-doctor daughter.

How to move the opinion polls from flatline to winning line within a month? Answer, dispatch a popular government minister to Istanbul for a crucial World Cup game.

What could possibly go wrong?

A diplomatic disaster is the answer, for when a group of England fans kick off in a pub the minister becomes embroiled in the fracas that leaves the bar owner’s daughter clinging to life. Bad news for the prime minister and the fleeing minister, who gets a hefty bounty slapped on his head.

Now a wanted man, the latter begins his odyssey to find a safe way home. Weaving a path through treacherous waters, not to mention coping with one-eyed monsters, Sirens and flesh-eating Gorgons, the thought of his beautiful wife Penelope guides his route back.

Meanwhile the PM is battling his own monsters, with a backlash from a baying media smelling blood and plummeting polls.
This delicious mayhem is poet Simon Armitage’s modern take on Homer’s Greek classic and his fine writing, Nick Bagnall’s deft direction and a great cast keep the chaos under control as they steer Odysseus’s creaky ship through increasingly choppy waters.

The ancient world is a sepia palate of a backdrop to today’s bright, brash world caught in the constant flash of the paparazzi lens. Signe Beckmann’s clever design marries the parallel stories perfectly.

The Odyssey may be nearly 3,000 years old but this is very much a play for today. It’s a warning on the current state of our vacuous and image-conscious politics, the poisonous impact of a salacious, uncontrolled media and a rich world’s indifference to the suffering of displaced and destitute people.

There are some great one-liners in Armitage’s crisp script and he even manages to work in a joke about a certain politician and a dead pig which goes down a treat with the audience.

Last year Armitage and Bagnall teamed up to deliver an interesting but somewhat flat version of Helen of Troy for the Royal Exchange in Manchester. This is a far smarter production which is full of energy, vitality and a freshness that gives a modern relevance to Homer’s masterpiece.

Anyone who may have a phobia about ancient Greek tragedy, or was forced reluctantly to study Homer for exams, will be cured by this very fine production.

Runs until October 17 then tours until November 28, details: ett.org.uk

Review by Paul Foley