ABOUT THIS BOOK

With her trademark irreverent and witty twist on classic works, Zimmerman brings to life the story of Odysseus's ten-year journey

This dramatic adaptation of Homer's myth begins with a modern young woman who is struggling to understand Robert Fitzgerald's translation of The Odyssey. A classical muse appears, and the young woman becomes the goddess Athena--a tireless advocate for Odysseus in his struggle to get home. Zimmerman's adaptation depicts his encounters with characters such as Circe, the Cyclops, Poseidon, Calypso, the Sirens, and others in new and exciting ways.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

MARY ZIMMERMAN's credits as an adapter and a director include Metamorphoses (2002), The Arabian Nights (2005), and Journey to the West (forthcoming) all available from Northwestern University Press, as well as Eleven Rooms of Proust, and The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci. Her work has been produced at the Lookingglass Theatre and Goodman Theatre of Chicago; on Broadway at Circle in the Square; in New York at Second Stage, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and the Manhattan Theatre Club; at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles; and at the McCarter, Berkeley Repertory, and Seattle Repertory as well as many other theaters around the country and abroad. The recipient of a Tony Award for directing for Metamorphoses and a MacArthur Fellowship, Zimmerman is a professor of performance studies at Northwestern University.

REVIEWS

"Mary Zimmerman can tell classic stories onstage, brilliantly. Part of [her] success emanates from her unique amalgam of deep intelligence and respect for the text, on the one hand, couple with her wild, sensual imagination on the other. Once she understands a great work, she plays with it." —Wall Street Journal

"The Odyssey is a smart, singular example of Mary Zimmerman's unique work in the theater -- vivid in imagery, rich in imagination, witty, and thoughtful in its lively adaptation of a classic work for a contemporary audience." —Richard Christiansen, critic and author of A Theater of Our Own: A History and a Memoir of 1,001 Nights in Chicago

"Not of one age but of all ages. . . . This Odyssey is grand theater." —Philadelphia Inquirer

“The greatest show in the sky, on the seas, even on earth with side trips to the underworld.” —New York Times

“The genius of Ms. Zimmerman… seems to lie in her ability to know what the blind poet Homer, as well as gifted storytellers and directors ever since, must have known: the secrets of engaging their listeners… winning them over to suspend their disbelief, bringing them on board, not just to watch, but to participate in the exciting voyage.” —Princeton Town Topics

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents
List of Photographs 00
Production History 00
A Note on the Adaptation 00
A Note on the Staging 00
The Odyssey 00
 Act I 00
 Act II 00
 
A Note on the Casting 00
Original Staging of Cyclops, the Underworld, and the Death of the Suitors 000

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