A very odd Odyssey

David Farr's take on Homer's epic is enjoyably trippy. What's missing is the narrative pull and emotional surge of great storytelling: this comes closer to picaresque romp.

The treatment gives what one of the characters calls a 'gooey liberal slant' to the tale, with Odysseus stuck in a detention centre, describing his adventures zigzagging his way back from the Trojan War.

Stephen Noonan gives an irreproachable performance as the chameleon-like Odysseus, who learns the meaning of exile and suffering, while Colin Mace brings a twinkle to his role as Roger the Asylum Officer.

And there are plenty of neat little tricks and jokes in Farr's staging. The Cyclops, a gigantic, empty black coat topped with a huge searchlight for an eye, is both menacing and absurd.

But the show often misses that elusive mix of comedy and wonder. Episodes that could be powerful are muffled, as when a woman from Troy recounts the ransacking of her city using cute puppets.

When Odysseus is aiming an arrow to win back his wife and kingdom, something huge is at stake, and we should be holding our breath, wondering how the director is going to pull it off.

But Farr botches it. What we get is a limp gag instead. This Odyssey dangles the sense that theatre can do anything in front of us, then drops the ball.

Odyssey