Co-produced by the Getty Museum and the Troubadour Theater Company, The ODDyssey recounts Homer’s 24 books in five episodes of about 15–20 minutes each, in a whimsical retelling of Odysseus’s adventure for audiences of all ages.
The ODDyssey is a family-friendly, seat-of-our pants, stay-at-home—ordered-up mix of wacky and whimsical storytelling by a cast of kooky, colorful characters,” says Matt Walker, artistic director of the Troubadour Theater Company. “Learn 12,000 lines in only five episodes. Our ODDyssey is the Rosetta Stone of epic poems.
A skewering of Homer’s The Odyssey, the epic poem chronicling a 20-year journey is transformed into webisodes featuring wild costumes, music, masks, and dozens of characters. Held captive by Calypso (a magical nymph) after a harrowing encounter with a giant Cyclops, Oddy (Odysseus) is finally allowed to leave Calypso’s island—only to be confronted by witches, sirens, angry gods, and multi-snake-headed creatures on his quest to return home to his beloved family.
Performing from their respective dwellings against the backdrop of the recent stay-at-home orders, the Troubies are stepping up to the quarantine challenge and using what is at their immediate disposal to tell the story. Inspired by Zoom’s low-resolution quality, The ODDyssey is retro-styled with a variety of music including some sitcom song remakes.
Each episode will premiere on Sundays at 3:00pm PDT, where audiences will get to chat live with the Troubies via YouTube Premiere. After the final episode, audiences will be invited to a Zoom party with the cast. All episodes will be available to view any time on the Getty’s YouTube channel.
Over the past 11 years, the Troubies have collaborated with Getty several times. Most recently they presented a 15-minute live comedy performance of The Odyssey during the Roman Holidays summer weekends in 2017, when the Villa unveiled its new galleries. Other performances include the 2016 outdoor theater performance Haunted House Party, a hilarious adaptation blending music, comedy, and circus-style performance based on the Roman comedy Mostellaria by Plautus; and three theater lab comedies: Oedipus: The King, Mama! in 2009, a musical parody that mashes up the Greek tragedy with the music of Elvis Presley; For the Birds in 2011, based on Aristophanes’s feathery utopian comedy; and Abbamemnon in 2014, a physical and musical romp, set to the music of the Swedish band ABBA, featuring one of the most famous dysfunctional ancient Greek families.
About The Troubadour Theater Company
Troubadour Theater Company is a free-wheeling, no-holds-barred, Commedia Del Arte-flavored, slapstick-driven, Los Angeles-based ensemble of actors, musicians, and comedians that has been performing for audiences throughout Southern California and beyond since 1995. Their fast-paced, laugh-filled, loose adaptations (some lines are still there) of classic plays, literature and film, as well as their original productions and hilarious sketch material, make this company a unique and exciting experience for theater-goers of any age.
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