Reading: Four Riffs for a Sailor

The Odyssey without Odysseus? Four Riffs for a Sailor is play that retells the story of the Odyssey through the interlocking monologues (and sometimes dialogues) of four women in it--Calypso, Nausicaa, Circe and Penelope--with no Odysseus, at least not onstage, though of course he gets talked about. Playwright Monica Raymond arrived at this residency with about 2/3 of the script written and is currently busily writing the final third. Then she will play with the pieces, cutting and pasting, and finding the right order before she meets with the actors.

Calypso is the "whore of peace," the goddess who heals men from the psychic wounds of war enough so that they're fit--well, fit enough, anyway--to return to the civilian world. Nausicaa is a child, just over the edge of puberty, seduced by Odysseus's stories and adventures. Circe is the self-contained artist who nonetheless finds herself vulnerable to Odysseus. And Penelope, whose story we think we know the best of all of these, her fidelity, her efforts to stave off the suitors, her blessed reunion with Odysseus at the end-- here turns out to be quite different.

Local author, screenwriter, and Surel's Place panelist Samantha Silva responded to Monica's residency application by writing "Raymond's CV is dizzyingly extensive and impressive. I wanted to like the writing so much.......And I LOVED the writing. It's crisp, poetic, contemporary. Such a brilliant idea for a play. I had tears in my eyes at the end of Calypso's last monologue."

Featuring:
Elke Myers
Janet Lo
Jason Haskins
Katie Preston
Kiala Siman

Casting by Buffie Main, Artistic Director of Alley Repertory Theater
Alley Rep is delighted to incubate and support Surel's Place artists.

Others Details

Category: Arts | Performing Arts | Theatre