My Father Odysseus - Unicorn Theatre
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
PURNI Morell directs Jeffery Kissoon as Odysseus in Timberlake Wertenbarker’s potent new play My Father Odysseus, which runs at the Unicorn Theatre from Sunday, March 13 to Sunday, April 10, 2016.
A Unicorn commissioned work inspired by Homer’s epic poem, My Father Odysseus examines absence, longing and fatherhood in a world where war is never far away.
Telemachus’ father left long ago to fight a war. He doesn’t remember him. Now the man of the house, he must step up to defend his father’s legacy and protect his mother from the suitors that lounge around the court.
Meanwhile, the great Odysseus has been trapped by the goddess Kalypso for ten long years. Lost in his memories of past glories, he longs to return home.
A timeless Greek myth refreshed for today, My Father Odysseus is about a son searching for his father and a father searching for himself.
Described as a lively and inventive premiere, it features live music in an original score performed by Frank Moon and Baha Yetkin.
Jeffery Kissoon’s extensive stage work includes Rudy’s Rare Records (Birmingham Rep/Hackney Empire), The Jungle of Cities (Arcola Theatre), War and Peace (Hampstead Theatre ad on tour), Amazonia (Young Vic), Julius Caesar (RSC) and Hamlet directed by Peter Brook (France/International Tour).
His film credits include Hamlet directed by Kenneth Branagh, Star Wars: The Force Awakens directed by JJ Abrams, The Tragedy of Hamlet directed by Peter Brook and Dirty Pretty Things directed by Stephen Frears.
Kissoon will be joined in the cast of My Father Odysseus by Theo Solomon as Telemachus and Ginny Holder as Penelope. Ben Adams and Guy Rhys play the Suitors and Charlotte De Bruyne is Athena.
Timberlake Wertenbaker is an internationally renowned writer and translater with over 40 plays to her name, including the award-winning Our Country’s Good. Her many credits include most recently Jefferson’s Garden, The Ant and the Cicada, The Line, The Grace of Mary Traverse, The Love of the Nightingale, Three Birds Alighting on a Field, The Break of Day, After Darwin and Galileo’s Daughter.
My Father Odysseus is suitable for ages 11+
Running Time: Approximately 1 hour 15 minutes.
For more information or to book tickets, call the box office on 020 7645 0560 or visit www.unicorntheatre.com/.