Directed by Dean Patrick Fleming
Teacher’s Guide by Toni Lynn Hakem
Cast and Production Crew
Starring
Quincy Armorer
Susan Glover
Daniel Brochu
Pippa Leslie
Karl Graboshas
Set Design
Marjolaine Provencal
Costume Design
Marija Djordjevic
Lighting Design
Andrea Lundy
Sound Design
Jesse Ash
Director
Dean Patrick Fleming
Playwright
Peter Smith
Table of Contents
Playwright’s Notes
The Odyssey - A Summary
4
5
Unit: Pre-Play Preparations
Homer’s Comic Strip
Extension Activity: 21st Century Journey
Homer, Homer, and more Homer
Extension Activity: Who was Homer?
Dactylic Hexameter
Greek Mythology Jeopardy
Exploration: Ithaca
8
8
9
9
10
11
11
Unit: General Play Activities
The Odyssey – A Review
What is Family?
While You Were Gone…
Extension Activity: A Modern Journey
Odysseus as a Hero?
For Younger Students
13
13
14
14
15
15
Unit: Greek Mythology
Modernized Myths
Greek Mythology and Mortals
Extension Activity: Falling Out of Favour
The Underworld
For Younger Students
17
18
18
19
20
Unit: Journeys
The Long Road Home
Where in the World is Odysseus?
What is next for Odysseus?
Our Journey’s not meant to End yet…
For Younger Students
22
23
23
24
24
Playwright’s Notes
The Odyssey…
How does an ancient story survive? How does it not get lost in the hurly burly of time? Stories
come and stories go. Some speak to a culture, some offer perspective on a specific incident. Both
can easily fade away when the culture dies or changes, or the specific incident seems no longer
relevant. So how does a story written almost 3000 years ago in a land two oceans away, survive to
make it here to the 21st century?
I think a story lives on, transcends time, because it remains relevant, continues to speak to us. While
the story is specific to culture and incident it is also about our common struggle to survive against
incredible odds. It inspires us in its deep understanding of emotion, of the complexity of being, it
tells of things that matter as much today as they mattered throughout our history. The story travels
from the imagination of one to the imagination of another. A great story also has a need to it – a
need that keeps it going from one to another, from one year to the next, from one culture to another. Did Homer know when he first spoke aloud The Odyssey that you’d be sitting in a classroom,
or in a theatre, almost 3000 years later, talking about it? I don’t think so. He simply told the story
because he wanted people to know it, to feel it, to remember it. And what happened was that somewhere inside that story people across time saw a piece of themselves – of their humanity, of their
fear, their wonder, of their awe.
The Odyssey is the tale of an incredible journey home – a journey unlike any other. One that travels
across an unforgiving sea, one that takes ten years to complete, one that costs the lives of everyone aboard the ship, save the captain – the mighty and heroic King of Ithaca, Odysseus. After the
fall of Troy Odysseus and his crew man a ship for home but the sea god Poseidon has other plans.
Relying on his wits Odysseus finds a way to combat the strange divine creatures and the dangerous
natural forces the Sea God puts before him. Every challenge has a cost but eventually he arrives in
Ithaca where he discovers he has one more battle to fight - one that will lead to his wife and son
and finally allow him to declare himself home.
4
Peter Smith, 2014
The ODyssey - A Summary
“The story you are about to see contains two incredible journeys. One is of a father trying to get
back home across a million miles of angry sea. And the other is the journey of a boy struggling
mightily to become a man… Welcome to the Odyssey.”
Let us first look at the boy, Telemachus, whose journey begins with a bad dream about his father,
Odysseus. He is woken up by his mother, Penelope, who convinces him he is still too young to go
after Odysseus. Years go by and Telemachus becomes a young man. He starts to receive threats by
suitors who want to wed his mother, Penelope, and so must escape with the help of Athena. She
advises him to sail to get news about his father in Sparta but when he arrives they have no news.
Dejected, Telemachus journeys home to protect his mother but once he arrives home he must stay
hidden because of the threats on his life continue. So Telemachus goes to Eumaeus, Odysseus’
goatherd, and asks for help. Eumaeus agrees to keep him safe and to teach him how to fight.
Now to the father, Odysseus, whose journeys is for home and his family but there are many obstacles. First, Odysseus finds himself on the Island of the Lotus Eater where all his sailors have fallen
under the island’s spell. Fortunately, he discovers two Trojan Soldiers (TS#1 & TS#2) who have
stowed away on his ship and instead of killing them he gets them to help him gather his crew. Once
they are all back on the boat, Odysseus is warned by Athena that Poseidon is angry at him because
of his prideful boasts. Poseidon’s wrath is great and Odysseus loses all his crew, except TS#1 &
TS#2, to the Sea.
Odysseus finds himself at the cave of the Cyclops where TS#1 and TS#2 are captured by Polyphemus, a Cyclops and half-god son of Poseidon. Odysseus blinds the Cyclops with a stick and they
escape the cave. As their journey continues, they find themselves with Aeolus, Master of the Winds,
who promises to use the West wind to send Odysseus home. Aeolus then, in secret, gives Odysseus
bags of the North, South and East winds but warns him not to use them until he is home. Unfortunately, while Odysseus sleeps TS#1 opens the bags and the winds send them all the way back to
Aeolus.
They continue their journey and reach the Island of Circe who tricks the Trojan soldiers and turns
them into pigs. Luckily, Odysseus meets Hermes, god of travelers, who warns him of Circe. Odysseus then tricks Circe and forces her to return his sailors to their original selves. She sends them
to Hades to speak with Tiresias, the blind prophet. Odysseus goes to Hades and gets advice from
Tiresias on how to get home. While there, Odysseus chooses to walk along Hades for a short while.
He is visited by Achilles and his mother, as well as his fallen sailors who died near the island of
5
Circe. Odysseus goes back to Circe in order to properly bury the dead. Circe is touched by the
gesture and warns them of the perils ahead including the Sirens, the Charybdis and the Scylla. They
sail on and narrowly escape the seducing call of the Sirens with the help of Athena. Finally, they
reach their greatest challenge, the Charybdis (a giant whirlpool) and the Scylla (a beast). Unfortunately, they sail too close to the Charybdis and the ship gets sucked into a whirlpool. Odysseus
escapes by holding onto a fig branch. He awakes to the voice of Athena who tells Odysseus how to
get home and warns him that it will be dangerous for him.
The two journeys collide as Odysseus reaches Ithaca and, disguised as a beggar, meets Eumaeus
and Telemachus in the woods. When all is revealed they are all overcome with emotions. They head
to the castle together where Penelope has set up a competition where the winner will have her hand
in marriage. She announces a competition that only Odysseus could win and he does. He drops his
disguise and the family is once again united.
6
Unit: Pre-PLay Preparations
7
Homer’s Comic Strip
Homer’s The Odyssey is a complex tale about a long journey home, before attending Geordie
Productions theatrical production, have your students read this epic tale. We suggest Robert Fagles’
translations which were used by the playwright, or (for younger audiences)The Children’s Homer: The
Adventures of Odysseus and the Tales of Troy adapted by Padraic Colum. To make it more enticing to
students, once they’ve finished reading the story, ask them to create a comic book strip demonstrating their understanding of the story. There may be a specific character that they identified with,
a specific storyline, a specific segment or even sentiment or theme – they can use that to develop
their comic strip.
Instead of using an online comic book generator, students should create this comic strip by hand
(can be hand-drawn; can use cut-outs from magazines etc…). They can set the story in any century
they would like, and use any type of genre they wish but in the end their comic strip must demonstrate their understanding of The Odyssey.
Extension Activity: 21st Century Journey
Ask students to go to the following website: http://maptal.es/tales/15#intro where they will take
another look at all of the places, people, and experiences Odysseus encountered on his journey
home.
After reading the website, students will choose their favourite Odysseus journey which they will
then adapt into a 21st century screenplay for a movie or television show.
8
Homer, Homer, and more Homer
Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey are considered to be some of (if not the) oldest epic tales ever
written. That alone deserves attention, but the fact that they have endured and are still relevant
thousands of years later? Well, that is very rare and special.
Ask students to research Homer and why his tales have endured.
• Who is Homer?
• What makes him an enigma? (Alternatively: Was he real?)
• Why are they still relevant today? Cite examples of their relevancy.
• What makes these stories so popular and enduring? Cite examples of their popularity.
With their research complete, ask students to take on the role of a journalist for a magazine and
to write a biography on Homer, highlighting any interesting facts or tales they have found. Their
article should also touch on the relevancy of his work.
Extension Activity: Who was Homer?
Using their newfound information on Homer, students will create a Homer-based crossword.
There are many free online crossword applications that they may wish to use, or for the more
adventurous they may want to create the finished product by hand. Regardless, once complete, you
can pass some of the crosswords around to see if any can be successfully filled out!
9
Dactylic Hexameter
Both The Iliad and The Odyssey are written using dactylic hexameter: a form of meter in poetry or a
rhythmic scheme
(From: http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Dactylic_hexameter.html)
Ask students to research this classical poetry style.
• What defines a dactylic hexameter?
• Why did Homer use it?
• Did anyone else use this? Does anyone still use it?
• What kind of an effect does it have on a story?
Go over examples of dactylic hexameters with your students. Once they have an understanding of
it, ask them to write their own (using any subject matter they wish). If time permits, ask students to
share with the class.
Research Resource:
A Guide to Poetry #1
http://implicatedisorder.wordpress.com/2012/03/18/a-guide-to-poetry-4-classical-prosody/
10
Greek Mythology Jeopardy
To introduce students to Greek mythology, have them play this online Greek gods and goddesses
Family Tree game - http://www.sporcle.com/games/pkittygrl/greek-gods-family-tree. Can they
answer all of the questions without doing any research? If not, perhaps give them some research
time beforehand.
Then in small groups, students will create their own answers based on Greek mythology to make a
game of jeopardy. Each group will have a turn to host, using their questions/answers with students
from other teams participating.
Exploration: Ithaca
To help students understand where Odysseus is from, they will research and write a general
overview of Ithaca and explore what life was like during one of its five defined eras.
Those eras are:
• First Settlers
• Mycenaean
• Hellenistic
• Ottoman
• French
They can choose to explore and write about whichever era they choose. The exploration of an
era does not need to be written up as an essay, students can be as creative as they wish in order to
demonstrate what they learnt during their exploration. They need to also include information about
Ithaca.
11
Unit: General Play Activities
12
The Odyssey – A Review
After seeing The Odyssey, discuss the play with your class.
• Did it meet their expectations?
• What was their favourite part?
• What was their least favourite?
• What differed from the poem?
Before asking students to write a critique of the play, have a brainstorming session on elements
critical to a play critique.
Some of the major elements are:
• Basic Information
• Script
• Acting
• Costume and Set Design
• Characters
• Final Thoughts
Ask each student to write their own play critique making sure to focus on the elements of a play
critique in their final paper.
What is Family?
As a class, go over the general definition for family and have a class discussion on what family is.
• How does it differ from who we consider to be family?
• Must it only be blood-relations?
• What actually defines family to you?
• How does your family effect who you are?
• What role does family play in The Odyssey?
• How was Penelope affected by Odysseus’ absence?
• How was Telemachus affected by not having his father?
• Did anyone step up to help Penelope and Telemachus?
With the discussion complete, ask students to write a creative short story about what they think will
happen next for Odysseus and his family.
13
While You Were Gone…
Go over the various characters from The Odyssey with your class.
Some of them are:
• Odysseus
• Penelope
• Telemachus
• Athena
• Hades
• Poseidon
• Antinous
• Circe
Discuss the characters and their relationship to Odysseus and his journey home.
Students will each choose one character from the play. They will then write a magazine feature
piece or Q&A with them focusing on Odysseus and his journey home.
Some questions they should seek to find answers to:
• How do you know Odysseus?
• What role did you play in his journey home?
• Would you do anything differently? If so, what?
• What did your encounter with Odysseus mean to you? To him?
• What did the war mean to you? To him?
• What has Odysseus missed in the last 20 years? For instance, if you could sit down with him and
tell him one or two things that he missed, what would they be?
Extension Activity: A Modern Journey
What would Odysseus’ journey have been like if it were taking place in the 21st century?
Discuss this concept with your students.
• What challenges would he face?
• What types of people would he meet? Would any Greek gods or goddesses be around?
• How would weather play a role?
• What type of vessel or vehicle would he be travelling in?
Ask students to write a short story or poem describing what they think a 21st century Odysseus
journey would look like.
14
Odysseus as a Hero?
Achilles: The glory we sought came at such a terrible price.
Odysseus: Many died too young.
Discuss the exchange between Achilles and Odysseus with your students.
• What is Achilles referring to?
• How doesAchilles feel about how things turned out?
• How does Odysseus feel about this?
• What can regret do to someone?
Continue the discussion focusing on Odysseus as a hero:
• Is Odysseus a hero? Why or why not?
• What characteristics should a hero have?
• What types of circumstances would make someone a hero?
• What other traits does Odysseus have?
Ask students to write a character analysis on Odysseus, including if they think he is a hero or not.
They should also focus on the exchange with Achilles and the long-term effects and consequences
of the price Odysseus may or may not have paid.
for Younger Students
1. Instead of asking students to write a play review or critique, ask them to write a letter to a friend
or to Geordie explaining why they should (or perhaps should not?) see The Odyssey.
2. What makes a fictional hero? What makes a real-life hero? Have a class discussion examining
the characteristics and traits a hero should have. Students will then write a short description of
the characteristics they believe a hero must have and if they think Odysseus has any of them.
Do they think Odysseus is a hero? Why or why not?If possible ask them to include a handmade
portrait of what they think a hero looks like.
3. Ask students to consider what they think Odysseus would be like if his story took place in 2014.
Students will then draw, make a bit-strip (http://www.bitstrips.com/), or a comic of what they
think a modern day Odysseus would be like. What would he look like? How would he act?
15
Unit: Greek Mythology
16
Modernized Myths
As a class, discuss the Greek gods and goddesses that appear in The Odyssey.
Some questions to help prompt discussion:
• Which Greek gods and goddesses appear in The Odyssey? (Some of them are: Athena, Poseidon,
Hades, and Hermes)
• What do you know about these Greek gods and goddesses?
• Do you know any Greek mythology stories that they have appeared in?
• What role did they play on Odysseus’s journey?
Ask students to select one of the Greek gods or goddesses that appear in The Odyssey to research.
The goal of their research is to help them become acquainted with the Olympian (a Greek god or
goddess that resides on, or is from Mt.Olympus) that they have chosen to work with. Once they
have an understanding of their Greek god or goddess they will write an updated version of one of
the myths they appear in. Their updated myth should include 21st century ideologies, language, and
culture.
Their final product should include a one page paper outlining the changes and choices they made
with their rationale.
17
Greek Mythology and Mortals
The Greek Olympians (aka Greek gods and goddesses that live on or are from Mt.Olympus) dealt
with mortals and immortals in different ways. Discuss this with your class, along with the relationships that the Greeks had with mortals (or civilians).
Some questions to help prompt discussion:
• What did the Greeks think of mortals?
• What did the Greeks think of immortals?
• How did the Greek Olympians interact with mortals? Immortals?
• Describe the differences in their interactions with mortals and
immortals.
• Describe the similarities in their interactions with mortals and
immortals. Were there any?
• What types of punishments did they give out? Describe.
• What types of rewards? Describe.
• What were their relationships like with mortals? Purely hierarchical?
Romantic?
Ask students to reimagine what the relationship between the Greek gods and goddesses would be
like with civilians in today’s world. They can express their reimagining by any creative writing genre
they would like, as long as it gets their point of view across.
Extension Activity: Falling Out of Favour
If the Olympians didn’t favour you then what would or could happen to you if you were a mortal?
What about if you were an immortal? Ask students to research myths based on this to help answer
the questions. They will then create their own (placing it in any year they like) that deals with what
happens when a mortal falls out of a favour with a Greek Olympian.
18
The Underworld
Achilles: I miss living. I miss her rain, the summer, … loves caress.
I would be a slave on earth for any man rather than rule down here over all the breathless dead.
Ask students to read some of the Greek myths that involved Hades and/or the Underworld.
Some suggested myths for students to research and read:
• Persephone in the Greek Underworld
• Orpheus in the Greek Underworld
• Hercules Visits the Greek Underworld -- More Than Once
• Greek Underworld Myths of Punishment in Tartarus
Once they’ve had a chance to read some myths, discuss them and Hades with your class.
• Who is Hades?
• Who is Persephone?
• How does Persephone’s relationship with Hades affect the rest of the world?
• How did the Greeks view the afterlife?
• Was it different for mortals and immortals? Describe.
• Describe the Underworld. How bad is it?
• Does the Underworld remind you of anything?
• Was there a reason why the Underworld and Mt. Olympus played such big roles in many Greek
myths?
Ask students to write a magazine, newspaper or blog article on one of the following:
1. Hades: A Q&A with this mysterious Greek god
-OR2. The Underworld: A description for travellers
19
for Younger Students
1. Discuss with your students how The Odyssey has influenced popular culture. Ask students to
think about what a modern version of The Odyssey would look like. Students will create a movie
poster based on their modern re-imaginings of the story.
2. Create your own Greek mythology inspired animal. Students should be as creative and inventive
as they like. Display the Greek mythology animals around your classroom.
3. Ask students to choose one of the Greek gods or goddesses from The Odyssey to write a short
story about. Their short story (or poem) should be about a day in the life of a Greek god or
goddess, set in present day. What types of challenges would they face? How would they deal with
technology? The creative possibilities are endless.
20
Unit: Journeys
21
The Long Road Home
Discuss Odysseus’ journey home; the places he went, the experiences he encountered and endured,
and the people he met, with your class.
Some questions to help prompt discussion:
• What are some of the places Odysseus visited on his long journey home?
• What types of characters did he meet on his journey?
• How did they help or hinder his journey?
• Name some of the experiences he encountered on his journey?
• How did they help or hinder his journey?
• How would you describe Odysseus’ journey to someone who has never read the story nor seen
Geordie’s theatrical version of it?
In small groups, students will produce a news piece on Odysseus’ journey home. Their piece will be
a video, giving an in-depth perspective of Odysseus’ journey home, focusing on one aspect of it or
more if they are able to make it clear and concise.
Share the videos with the class and discuss the different angles each piece has chosen to focus on
and how they have chosen to handle Odysseus’ journey.
Be creative!
22
Where in the World is Odysseus?
Let each student take a turn spinning a globe and have them write down the country they landed
on. They will then write a short story about Odysseus returning to that country in the 21st century.
Students should research the country they landed on, in order to make it more realistic.
Their short story should also focus on the following:
• What are his experiences with the modern world?
• How did he get there?
• What challenges does he face?
• What conflicts does he encounter?
• What types of people does he meet?
• How does he interact with the people, places, and experiences he
encounters in the 21st century?
• How does he go about his daily life?
• What is life like in the 21st century in {student’s chosen country}
for Odysseus?
If time permits, ask students to share their stories with the class.
What is next for Odysseus?
Odysseus: ‘Not yet meant to be. Let’s see what the gods have in store for us, shall we?
Using the above statement from Odysseus, ask students to write a Greek inspired myth about what
the gods have in store for Odysseus. Perhaps their myth takes place 10 years down the road for
Odysseus, perhaps 100 years down the road. The end goal is to tie together Greek mythology with
Odysseus’ next adventure.
23
Our Journey’s not meant to End yet…
Discuss the journeys that were included in Geordie’s version of The Odyssey with your students.
• Which places did Odysseus visit?
• What ones were missing?
Before moving on to the project, discuss the concept of adaptation with your students. For instance, Geordie Productions version of The Odyssey is an adaptation.
Once students understand what an adaptation is, discuss the following:
• When we adapt (books to film or stage) is everything included? Why do they think certain pieces
or storylines are left out?
• How does one decide on what to include and what to leave out?
• Are some storylines stronger in the adaptation than in the original?
• Have they ever seen a movie or play that is an adaptation? What did they think of it?
Now it’s time for the project.
Ask students to choose a journey that wasn’t included in Geordie’s version of The Odyssey. They will
write a treatment adapting it for the stage.
Their treatment should include:
• A detailed outline of the scene
• Samples of the dialogue
• Descriptions of the characters, costumes, and setting(s)
If time permits, ask students to bring some of their treatments to life by acting them out in small
groups.
for Younger Students
1. In small groups or pairs, students will design and develop a prototype of a game (board game,
card game etc…) based on Odysseus’ journey. Give students a chance to play a few of the other
teams games and discuss the different and creative ways they all found to express Odysseus’ adventure.
2. Ask students to write a poem about what a journey means to them. It could be a personal tale of
a journey they went on, literally or figuratively, or perhaps an adventure they shared with friends.
24