The Odyssey on Alma
“Set aboard a historic schooner and staged as the craft sails the San Francisco Bay, We Players’ new adaptation of The Odyssey exemplifies how, in theater, the marriage of text with place can reinvigorate both.”
- Autumn 2011
- Original poem by Homer, translated by Robert Fagles and others, revised for performance by We Players
- Directed by Ava Roy
In autumn 2011, in partnership with San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, We Players shared episodes of the classic sea story The Odyssey aboard the park’s 1891 scow schooner Alma. Alma’s broad, sturdy deck evoked Odysseus’ sleek black triremes, and helped tell the unlucky sailor’s tale of travel, exploration, and homecoming.
Each performance took place during a three-hour sail on San Francisco Bay, as the cast and crew wove real-time line handling with Homer’s stirring account of weary seafarers striking sail for home.
Sing in me muse, and through me tell the story
-The Odyssey
