Writer: Lyndsay Rodden
Director: Annie Rigby
Part of a Public Acts multi-chapter production that has already visited three venues and will next reach its conclusion at London’s National Theatre, The Island of the Sun is chapter four of a new stage adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey. Each chapter has been created and staged by the local communities of each venue, with this chapter of the Greek epic being given a very Sunderland flavour. Rodden’s script features references to the local football team, shipbuilding and pease pudding along with lashings of Mackem dialect and slang and, along with setting it all in a modern timeframe, this is clearly an effort to bring this millennia-old story to a wider audience. And while this production does manage to engage modern sensibilities, it doesn’t prove to be particularly successful at much else.
This 70 minute play with songs incorporates the sections of The Odyssey that see Odysseus and his depleted crew encounter Scylla the six-headed sea monster, and then incur the wrath of sun god Helios by slaying the sacred cattle. These tales are framed as stories told at a pub in “a town a little bit like Sunderland” as part of their traditional retelling of The Odyssey. This means that the role of Odysseus is played by several different performers throughout, and everyone on the stage has at least a few lines. The cast is made up of members of the local community alongside two very good local “Equity performers” and this allows the production to feel somewhat authentic to the area.
Commendable as it is to make this a community production with no limitations on sex, age, race etc., there also seems to have been no discrimination when it comes to performing ability. Outside of a small handful, the majority of the cast struggle to deliver engaging performances with diction being a particular problem. Even some performers cast in key roles deliver bad performances, and using the community cast as an excuse is unacceptable when so many local “amateur” groups manage to produce extremely professional productions. None of this is helped by Rodden’s confused and confusing script or Rigby’s flat and uninspired direction neither of which project any sort of drive or energy into the piece and make even 70 minutes feel too long.
Sean Cooney’s original folk songs and sea shanties add some musical interest to the piece and are all good without ever managing to be memorable or moving. However they are performed very well by the cast a cappella. The minimal set featuring an LED-enhanced sun as a backdrop is fine, and when the time comes for Helios to appear, it delivers a visual spectacle. In fact one of the strongest aspects of this production is the lighting which is consistently atmospheric and interesting. The sound is also a stand-out with good use of sound effects and the theatre’s surround sound allowing it to be truly immersive.
It’s unclear just what National Theatre and Public Acts are trying to achieve with this overall project. Like serving a five-course meal one dish at a time across five cities, no one is getting the full effect and everyone is surely left feeling unsatisfied. And it isn’t as if the five productions are going to be pulled together at any time, meaning that The Island of the Sun is essentially a standalone piece of a larger puzzle that struggles to justify its existence. Engaging the community in a nationwide theatrical production is an excellent idea, but The Odyssey falls short of fulfilling its aim.
Runs until 29th April 2023.
