THE ODYSSEY 

A Children's play 

Inspired by the Greek masterpiece by Homer

 

 A modern day Dad has to travel abroad for ten days and gives his son a magical book. 

“If you read this book time will go by faster!” he promises. 

Odysseus, the mythological hero and his brave friends go through many 

adventures ,some scary, others funny, and each adventure is a lesson, allegory or a pondering dream. They have to face giant Cyclops and seductive sirens, solve riddles and make tough choices, and cross the kingdom of the dead while dealing with their longing for home. As they deal with their journey and longing for home, so does the boy waiting at home for his father. 

”When will dad return?” the Boy asks his Mother who explains to him that “Sometimes waiting is also an odyssey.” 

 

It turns out that within The Odyssey, the greatest adventure story of all times, lies the simple story of a family: A father who won the war and needs to get home, and a mother and child who wait for him to return. Each one of these characters goes through a journey, an odyssey.

 

The Odyssey by Homerus isn’t just an ancient Greek myth, it is also the basis for all of the adventure/journey tales we know. 

 

Characters  (5M, 1F, 1 Boy)

Eddie, father / Odysseus 

Penny, mother / Penelope / Circe the Sorceress of Magic / The Siren, a Sea Nymph

Mike, their son / Telemachus  

Ralf the Neighbor / The Cyclops / Great-great-great-Grand Father of the Kingdom of the Dead / Suitor in the palace

Odysseus’ Crew

Elpenor – Coward, misses his dog

Eurylochus - Liar, misses his love

Primedes – Hot headed, misses his mother

 

The play was produced in 2014 and still runs in Gesher theatre, Tel-Aviv, Israel. 

 

 

An extract from the play

Translated from Hebrew

by Jeffery Ophir

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