Adapted by Christine Foster
A SMITH SCRIPT
This script is protected by copyright laws. No performance of this script – IN ANY MEDIA – may be undertaken without payment of the appropriate fee and obtaining a licence. For further information, please contact SMITH SCRIPTS at [email protected] THE ODYSSEY
(a stage adaptation of Homer’s Classic Poem) by Christine Foster
Synopsis: Having angered Poseidon with his victory over Troy, Odysseus faces ten years of the god's rage, including tempests, whirlpools, enchanted islands, the Cyclops, the Sirens, and the seductive wiles of Circe and Calypso as he struggles to return home to Ithaca and his wife and son. Or... is the real bar to his homecoming his own ego, his endless tricks and overbearing pride?
The Play is One Act
running time of approx. 70 mins.
The Setting:
The Mediterranean World of Bronze Age Greece including:
ITHACA, The shore, The Palace
ISLE OF THE CYCLOPS
THE FLOATING ISLAND OF AEOLIS
CIRCEʼS ISLE OF ENCHANTMENT
CALYPSOʼS ISLE OF SILENCE
THRINACIA, ISLAND OF THE GOLDEN CATTLE OF HELIOS
The Humans:
ODYSSEUS, King of Ithaca
TELEMACHUS, his son PENELOPE, his wife EURYCLEA, Odysseusʼ old nurse EUMAEUS, A faithful swineherd
ANTINOUS, LEODES and POLYBUS, suitors to Penelope ANTINOUS JR., LEODES JR. and POLYBUS JR. their MURDEROUS SONS
ELPENOR, POLITES, EURYLOCHUS, PERIMEDES : Odysseusʼs crewmembers
IMMORTALS
ZEUS ATHENA POSEIDON HELIOS POLYPHEMES, a Cyclops AEOLUS, Keeper of the Winds and his twin daughters TIKKI and TAKKI TERESIUS, the blind prophet CIRCE KALYPSO Nymphs and Sirens
All actors except Odysseus perform multiple roles.!
1
SCENE ONE
The rocky shore below the palace in Ithaca. Two nymphs (dancers) cavort with long strips of silk, depicting wind and waves. There is the SOUND OF A RAMʼS HORN, blown. The nymphs freeze and look round, listening.
INVOCATION:
Odysseus: (Offstage-Voice Over) Sing in me, sweet muse, and lift once more the great song of The Wanderer: deep-hearted Odysseus, that man of twists and turns, who plundered the hallowed heights of Troy.
(TELEMACHUS, 21, enters and stands gazing out to sea)
Odysseus: Sing of his departure, heart high for home, only to be caught in bitter, storm-tossed nights and days, as angry gales blow his ship groaning oʼer the fishcold seas.
Call forth dazzling Athena, Protector of Warriors, her grey eyes shining like the deep.
(ATHENA, dressed in Greek soldierʼs attire, with her helmet in one hand and her spear in the other, enters and looks down on Telemachus.)
Odysseus: She watches Odysseus, her favourite, as he fights the towering waves and rages of the gods and vows to bring his shipmates home.
(Distant PARTY SOUNDS can be heard from the palace, and the nymphs run off.)
TELEMACHUS: Father!
ATHENA: (echoing him) Father!
(ZEUS comes on, grumpily behind her, startling her)
ZEUS: Well, what is it this time?
ATHENA: Oh Zeus...my lord, I never called you!
ZEUS: Call? You bellowed! I heard you all the way up on Mt. Olympus, Athena. Clearly you get your lungs from me.
(He turns to go)
ATHENA: Wait! Now youʼre here, look...Heʼs back again. See?
2
ZEUS: Who? Where?
ATHENA: This is the rock bound shore of Ithaca. And he is Prince Telemachus gazing at the wine dark sea...
ZEUS: (sees the sea creatures, cheers up) Heʼs not gazing at the sea, heʼs gazing at those nymphs.
ATHENA: (impatient) Heʼs looking for his father.
ZEUS: (peering) Why? Is he swimming with the nymphs?
ATHENA: No! His father is the great Odysseus, the hero who brought down the towers and walls of Troy!
ZEUS: So thatʼs Telemachus? Yes, he does look like that rogue Odysseus. No one could ever believe a word he said. I always liked him for that.
ATHENA: Odysseus set sail after ten years battling at Troy. For ten more years he has wandered, desperately seeking his way home. Thatʼs twenty years, he hasnʼt seen his family! His only son has grown to manhood without his care.
ZEUS: And for this he blames the Gods. Humans always do.
ATHENA: You could help, Father, you know you could!
TELEMACHUS: (calls) Father, will you never return?
(Athena puts on her helmet and climbs down to Telemachus)
ZEUS: And what in the name of Hades are you up to?
ATHENA: I shall be Captain Mentes, a friend of his father, home from the Trojan War. I shall offer him some peace of mind.
ZEUS: No peace of mind ever came from interfering in the lives of humans.
(A drumstick flies over the palace wall and lands on shore. PARTY SOUNDS FROM THE PALACE SWELL.)
Mind you, they do know how to throw a party.
(ZEUS EXITS as Athena approaches Telemachus who kicks aside the drumstick, not seeing her)
ATHENA: Greetings. Am I in Ithaca?
3
TELEMACHUS: You are, stranger, and welcome in the name of my father, Odysseus, who was always honoured guests, even uninvited ones. So, please, stay the night, raise a cup... or stay a year, and drink my cellars dry.
ATHENA: Your cellars? Are you the master of this House?
TELEMACHUS: If my father, is lost, as they say he is, then I am master here...but if he is lost, then I am lost as well.
ATHENA: I knew your father, Odysseus.
TELEMACHUS: I wish I had.
ATHENA: You have his eyes.
TELEMACHUS: Iʼd rather have his strength. Our Home is full of men, Lords of the Islands, shouting orders, courting my mother, urging her to marry one of them. And because she will not choose they stay and eat and belch their way through all we have.
ATHENA: I fought alongside your father...at Troy.
TELEMACHUS: (eager) Then you have news of him?
ATHENA: He was alive when we all set out for home.
TELEMACHUS: That was ten years ago.
(Another SWELL of music as Three Suitors, LEODES, ANTINOUS, POLYBUS, approach, laughing, loutish. They wear half masks)
LEODES: Iʼm tired of this music. I want something I can dance to.
POLYBUS: Oh look, Itʼs widdle iddle Telemachus...whereʼs your mummy, tubby Telly?
TELEMACHUS: At her loom.
ANTINOUS: In her room, at her loom. That woman is beyond boring.
POLYBUS: But rich, Antinous. Rich.
LEODES: She smiled at me today. From her window.
POLYBUS: You mean she laughed at you.
ANTINOUS: Wake up and smell the tsatsiki, brothers. Iʼm younger than the both of you. Put together.
POLYBUS: You have bad teeth.
4
LEODES: You have bad breath!
(They are starting to shove each other when a lone harper starts. After a few notes PENELOPE appears with EURYCLEA)
EURYCLEA: Even vultures bow their heads when a lady appears!
(They freeze and bow. Penelope claps her hands and calls)
PENELOPE: Sing no more this bitter tale that wears my heart away!
(The music stops. Penelope turns and goes back inside. Euryclea sees Telemachus with the Stranger and comes down to them, curious)
ATHENA: What was the Harperʼs song about that so upset the Queen?
ALL: Troy!
LEODES: Thereʼs no Hero like a dead Hero.
POLYBUS: Of course it still upsets Her.
ANTINOUS: But itʼs time to forget all that...move on!
LEODES: I shall go comfort her...
POLYBUS: No...I will, I will!
TELEMACHUS: (an outburst) Why donʼt you clear off once and for all? For Three Years you have turned this palace into a pigsty...If my father were here he would drive you out like the swine that you are!
ANTINOUS: Are you calling us pigs, boy?
POLYBUS: You and who else? Your bodyguard there?
ANTINOUS: A wild boar nearly killed your father when he was a lad. Beware our tusks...
LEODES: And teeth! And tricks!
POLYBUS: Weʼre trickier than Tricky Odickeous!
ANTINOUS: Or as heʼs known round here, that sissy O-dyss-eus!
(They go off, giggling madly at their wit, back to the party)
EURYCLEA: Itʼs true about the wild boar...I was the one who bound your fatherʼs wound...and to this very day he has the scar just here, on his thigh. In the shape of a new moon.
5
TELEMACHUS: Had, Euryclea. Bones donʼt have scars.
EURYCLEA: Donʼt you believe heʼs alive?
TELEMACHUS: I donʼt know...I need proof!
ATHENA: Then go seek him, find out the truth, take my ship! Iʼve left it prepared, itʼs waiting now...
(Another SWELL of PARTY SOUNDS)
TELEMACHUS: I canʼt leave my mother alone with THEM!
ATHENA: Time is running out for Ithaca.
EURYCLEA: And for your mother. She will have to choose.
ATHENA: There must be a King. Or there will never be peace.
EURYCLEA: And when she chooses... You think the new King will let you live?
TELEMACHUS: I canʼt fight them all alone!
ATHENA: Then find your father! (Walking away) I will be the wind beneath your wings as you depart!
(After Athena disappears there is a LOUD FLUTTER of STRONG WINGS . And/or the Hoot of an owl.)
TELEMACHUS: (shading his eyes, looking up) A Great Owl!?
EURYCLEA: It wasnʼt a human at all...it was one of Them!
TELEMACHUS: (exultant) A Goddess in person..sweet Euryclea, it was Athena!
(Euryclea goes to scream, but Telemachus claps his hand over her mouth swiftly)
TELEMACHUS: Donʼt tell mother til I have gone...it will nearly break her heart with worry.
(He starts off, Euryclea follows behind, arguing)
EURYCLEA: But I must tell her...this proves heʼs alive!
TELEMACHUS: No! The Goddess didnʼt say that.
EURYCLEA : Why would she tell you to go seek your father if she didnʼt know for a fact he was alive?
6
TELEMACHUS: How would I know..? Iʼve never met a Goddess before!
(As they go we become aware that Penelope is back at her window, gazing out at the sea.)
PENELOPE: (with great longing) Odysseus...husband...Where are you? The horizon is as flat as the edge of the cloth I weave. The waves shunt like my shuttle to and fro and and still they return without you!
ECHO: (offstage) You...you...you...
PENELOPE: (cries out in frustration) How much longer can I wait?
ECHO: Wait...Wait...Wait...
PENELOPE: Odysseus...come Home!
ECHO: Home...home...home..!
(The Echo repeats ʻHOMEʼ as Penelope slowly leaves.) SCENE TWO
As Penelope exits, ODYSSEUS steps onto the other side of the stage. He too stands looking out to sea. He hears the fading echo.
ODYSSEUS: Home.
(EURYLOCHUS, his crusty lieutenant, and ELPENOR, his young helmsman approach in the boat.)
ELPENOR: What was that, Captain?
ODYSSEUS: I could have sworn I heard my wifeʼs voice just now. Penelope.
(The boat comes on and Odysseus helps beach it)
EURYLOCHUS: (wistfully) I know. I know. Wife. Children. I had six when I left. I wonder how many I have now?
ELPENOR: We watch the stars and sail in circles. Even sea monsters have a home. How have we so offended the Gods that we have none?
ODYSSEUS: We did burn Troy. Poseidonʼs favorite people, favorite town.
EURYLOCHUS: But surely the sea godʼs anger has ebbed by now.
ODYSSEUS: Weʼll soon find out. We sail again on the next tide. We have food, we have water...We have our crew... No, we donʼt. Where are the others? Polites! Perimedes! 7
(POLITES, in a blissful stupor, holding in one hand a large floppy blossom, comes on in slow motion, with PERIMEDES. They cross legs, Intertwine their steps as they roll toward the ship.)
EURYLOCHUS: And where have you been?
POLITES: (very drawn out) Ha-ving a lit-tle song and dance...
PERIMEDES: Tra la.
ODYSSEUS: What is that you are eating?
PERIMEDES: Lo...
POLITES: Tus...
PERIMEDES: Bloss...
POLITES: ums.
POLITES AND PERIMEDES: (sing in harmony) Yum!
(Elpenor, the youngest, starts to laugh at this, making Odysseusʼ job that much harder.)
ODYSSEUS: (patiently) Time to climb aboard now, boys.
POLITES: Want to stay
PERIMEDES: and play all day
POLITES AND PERIMEDES: (they sing) Here in La La Land.
EURYLOCHUS: I wouldnʼt call it brain food, sir.
ODYSSEUS: Just keep them happy and here, Iʼll be right back.
(Odysseus goes up the shore to find another blossom, he stays within sight the whole time, searching, as POSEIDON, a wild looking God, carrying a Trident in one hand, and dripping with seaweed, comes on frowning as he listens to the joking men)
EURYLOCHUS: Uh, keep them happy, letʼs see…) I know! “Where is the best place for a Trojan?
PERIMEDES AND POLITES: Uh...?
EURYLOCHUS: At the bottom of the sea. Now hereʼs the good part...Why?