Handcart Ensemble ~ Homer's Odyssey

A Retelling by Simon Armitage

After a decade spent fighting in Troy, the mythical hero Odysseus faces ten more years of peril and privation before he can reunite with those he loves. Building on Simon Armitage's masterful and accessible treatment of the ancient epic, Handcart Ensemble's production will incorporate acrobatics, shadow puppetry, and other uniquely theatrical means to summon Homer's tale of the human heart and its capacity to endure all for the sake of family and homeland.

Originally performed for BBC Radio in 2004, this adaptation by one of the world's greatest living poets appears onstage for the first time.

Cast

David D'Agostini
Jeffrey Golde
Torsten Hillhouse
Rita Markova
John Michalski
Nicholas Alexiy Moran
Jane Pejtersen
Joel Rainwater
Joel Richards
Elizabeth Ruelas
Ryan Wood

Director

J. Scott Reynolds

Original Music

Nathan Bowen

Fight Director

J. Allen Suddeth

Musical Director/Vocal Coach

Matthew Herrick

Costume Designer

Candida Nichols

Lighting Designer

David Kniep

Set Designer

Tijana Bjelajac

Puppetry/Shadow Effects

Marta Mozelle MacRostie

Stage Manager

Sarah Biesinger

* AEA Member. Equity Approved Showcase.

(This page is a summary of a past production. The full Homer's Odyssey page as it existed during the run of this show, with calendar, podcast and images, can be found here.)

About Us

Old Wine in New Bottles

Handcart Ensemble produces new adaptations, new translations, and new works for the theater, drawing primarily from classical sources. Read our mission statement for more information.

Handcart's Horizon

Watch here for details on productions planned for the coming year and seasons, which include a reading of Racine's Iphigenia in a glorious new translation by poet Rachel Hadas, a full production of Homer's Odyssey as adapted by poet Simon Armitage, and a startlingly orginal version of Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood (for which a teaser will appear in our December benefit of A Child's Christmas in Wales: Stories and Poems by Dylan Thomas); all from a company described as "the city’s most reliable and interesting presenter of contemporary renditions of classic theatre texts (NYTheatre.com)."