Asolo Rep on Tour brings Homer into the modern day

Odysseus went on a long, strange trip more than 3,200 years ago.

Today, in 2022, the same holds true for the playwright, composer and lyricist who reimagined Homer’s epic journey for the stage. They created their adaptation for the Asolo Rep on Tour program.

Here’s how it works …

Every year, a team of creative minds distills a classic narrative into a 45-minute play.

Third-year acting students from the FSU/Asolo Conservatory take their edited epic on tour to schools and community venues both locally and throughout the state of Florida. The creative minds of previous touring productions have adapted classics by heavyweights from Shakespeare to Sophocles.

Homer’s “Odyssey” is this year’s classic. Playwright Jess Shoemaker and composer Lizzie Hagstedt are this year’s creative team, and the work was directed by Gaby Rodriguez, who also aided in its development.

Adapting “The Odyssey” is not a job for amateurs. Depending on the edition, the tome clocks in at 400-500 pages. They had to cut it down to 45 minutes. Without dumbing it down. And they only had six months to do it.

Rodriguez first conceived the idea, and then developed it with Shoemaker.

The director knew one thing from the start. Her adapted “Odyssey” needed a fresh angle on the old story.

From James Joyce’s “Ulysses” to the Coen brothers’ “O Brother Where Out Thou?,” the tale had been told and retold ad nauseam.

To reach a new audience, Rodriguez had to show them something new.

She wouldn’t change or contradict the story. But she could explore the stories “The Odyssey” left out.

So what was Homer’s epic missing? The hero's family. The wife and son he’d left behind on Ithaca. 

“I realized the tale is almost always told from Odysseus’ perspective,” Rodriguez says. “We hear about his journey and his struggle with gods, monsters and the sirens. But we don’t hear about his family on Ithaca. Odysseus fights a war for ten years. He’s lost at sea for another ten years. What happened to Telemachus and Penelope during those years of separation? When he returns, how will the family try to start again? That was the story I wanted to tell.”

The director shared her idea with the playwright. Shoemaker loved it.

They explored the idea over several brainstorming sessions. Then Shoemaker hit the keyboard and slowly transformed the idea into a story.

“Gaby gave me a note when I first started out,” says Shoemaker.

“‘We usually think about the obstacles on Odysseus’s’ journey — the Cyclops, the sirens, etc. I don’t want to eliminate them entirely. But could you cut them down to two pages?’”

She could and did. Shrinking the monsters created space for Odysseus’ family.

Including the family’s experience gave the ancient epic contemporary relevance.

War divided Odysseus from his family. That separation was brutal to the family at home. When the war ended, Odysseus' return became a refugee's flight.

Millions today know exactly what the family endured.

The family viewpoint also changed the meaning of the word “home.” Homer’s heroic epic was always a homecoming; Odysseus was looking for Ithaca.

In this adaptation, he still is.

But Penelope and Telemachus are, too.

The Trojan War and family separation have turned their home life upside down. They can’t go home again, even if they live there. But they don’t stop trying.

The Trojan War disrupted the lives of everyone in the community. The Ithaca they live in is not the hometown where they grew up. They’re all trying to recreate their lost sense of home and togetherness.

Big ideas are interesting.

Transforming them into moving scenes with believable dialogue is the playwright’s art.

According to Shoemaker, writing the script was part of a larger team effort.

She describes Rodriguez as “a fountain of ideas who shaped the story every step of the way.” Hagstedt’s music also inspired her. And the conservatory actors were essential to the playwriting process.

“Before rehearsals began, I was feeling a little stressed,” Shoemaker says. “I knew where the story had to go, but I didn’t know to get there. That changed in the rehearsal room.

"Once the actors started speaking my words in character, the script just flowered.”

A storm is coming

On Friday, Sept 23, the director, playwright and cast had all gathered on stage in the Cook Theatre at the FSU Center for the Arts. It was the night of the final closed rehearsal.

Public previews were set to begin Monday. But Hurricane Ian had other plans.

“We were ready to go with lights and tech,” recalls Rodriguez.

“But we also kept getting news about the hurricane.”

Bad news. Hurricane Ian had changed course. The tempest’s predicted path had shifted from the Florida panhandle to the Gulf Coast. Nothing was certain. But most of the spaghetti squiggles converged on Sarasota.

Rodriguez gave the cast the direction they needed.

“I looked at the actors and said, ‘Let’s go out there and enjoy the run. This might be the only show we get to do it in this theater, so let’s do it.”

While the acting students nodded “yes,” they still looked stunned.

The same thought had occurred to all of them.

In Homer’s epic, Odysseus blinded a gigantic Cyclops before he could barbecue his crew. They escaped.

In a bit of bad luck, the monster was Poseidon’s son. The God of the Sea was outraged — and creates a horrific storm that sent their boat off course. Unbelievably, it looked like their play would suffer the same fate.

The young actors kept pelting Rodriguez with questions.

“Are you kidding me? Did we anger Poseidon? Like what are the odds that a play about the Odyssey gets canceled because of a giant storm?"

They weren’t entirely joking. Rodriguez shrugged. They could worry about it after the storm.

Tonight, the show must go on. And so it did. Actors and artists hunkered down for the rest of the week.

When they emerged, their home theater was battered, but still there. Venice Theatre wasn’t so lucky.

Nobody cheered. They just got back into character.