Writer: Tajinder Singh Hayer
Director: Madeleine O’Reilly
Public Acts is a nationwide initiative to create extraordinary acts of theatre and community. Cast’s second Public Acts performance follows the triumph of last year’s Doncastrian Chalk Circle, a joyful adaptation of the Brechtian classic from award-winning writer Chris Bush.
This time the community ensemble, with professional performer Terence Rae as Polyphemus, take on the Greek epic poem The Odyssey by Homer. This is part two of five, with the other parts being taken on by community companies across the UK. Also following The Odyssey on its trek across the UK is The Galley designed by Mervyn Miller. This is a 10-metre-long ship, journeying with the productions, and collecting messages of remembrance from the local community.
The audience is treated to a pre-show welcome from the ensemble in the foyer area. It’s a little frantic as the audience who arrive in time for the pre-show is split into groups and guided around the stations of performances, at the same time as audiences for the main show is arriving. The noisy front of house may not be the right place, as the audience strain to hear the community players above the hubbub. However the cast give everything over to the storytelling and do an amazing job of setting the stage for the main production.
Episode 2: The Cyclops, at Cast, picks up in a warehouse where exhausted workers are on a break from their daily labors in a box-making factory. While on break they decide to tell the story of The Cyclops, where we see a mirroring of the workers’ feeling of being trapped in the factory and Odysseus’ crew mates being trapped in the Cyclop’s labyrinth.
In the mysterious warehouse of the Cyclops, the fractured crew must work together to find a way out of the gates to freedom and, ultimately, home.
The performances of the community performers are astonishing, and you would be forgiven for thinking they were all professional performers. With a company reflecting the diverse demographic makeup of the Doncaster community, there wasn’t a weak link in the chain. The whole company performs with assured confidence and a deep understanding of the story.
The adaptation by Hayer taking the story into a modern-day warehouse, while a clever re-imagining of the setting which moves the piece into it’s modern Doncastrian world, is heavy-handed in places. It feels like social issues are a little shoehorned and unnecessary to the plot of the show rather than cleverly absorbed into the plot. Very little has been given over to finding the high points of drama in the plot, and the direction by O’Reilly hasn’t helped. The performance is one-dimensional and slow-paced throughout. Large portions of what should be intense dramatic and emotional moments tinged with the threat of violence are lost in the monotone darkness and slow delivery of the piece.
The climax of the performance, where Odysseus tricks Polyphemus into becoming intoxicated is lacking any real tension. A moment of high drama with a serious threat, replaced with a slight titter from the audience as the boxes are awkwardly shuffled behind.
Caitlin Mawinney’s design leans heavily on the theme of boxes, doing little to add nuance or colour to the piece. Most of the set feels unnecessary and unimaginatively utilised. The potential of the metallic and mechanised overbearing threat of a warehouse environment is replaced with boxes being used as chairs. An LED eye at the back of the stage is a strong motif for the piece, giving the only nod to the big brother presence of the Cyclops.
It is a shame that the radical reinterpretation of the piece falls short of its promise, given the enthusiasm of the community ensemble which is the saving grace of the piece. They are full to the brim with heart, love, and pride which is enough to light the bleak design over the finish line.
Runs until 16th April 2023.
