Taproot Theatre’s “The Oddyssey” Is a Thoughtful (and Traditional) Treatment of a Classic

Nolan Palmer as Eumaeus, Nikki Visel as Athena, and Mark Chamberlin as Odysseus. Photo by Erik Stuhaug

If you’re lucky enough to have had a challenging English teacher at some point in your academic career, (or unlucky enough, depending on your own perspective), chances are you’ve already been introduced to Robert Fitzgerald’s translation of The Odyssey. Fifty years after its publication, Fitzgerald’s translation remains the gold standard, and it is the source for playwright Mary Zimmerman’s imaginative stage adaptation, currently playing at Taproot Theatre Company (through March 5, tickets $10-$35).

Zimmerman, previously a recipient of a highly prestigious MacArthur Fellowship–a.k.a. “the Genius Award“–also directed the original production, including a run at Seattle Repertory Theatre in 2000. The Rep’s 2005 production of her play The Secret in the Wings remains high on my own personal list of shows I’m still kicking myself for missing. Although Taproot’s Odyssey is a shortened version of Zimmerman’s original, the aspirations are still, well, epic.

---

Taproot’s production is successful almost as much for what it avoids as it is for its positive choices. All too often contemporary theatre makers producing classics feel the need to shoehorn challenging pre-modern text into convoluted postmodern conceptualizations. How do we relate to a text like The Odyssey in the age of Twitter? How has storytelling changed since Homer’s time? Do modern theatre-goers have the attention span for epics? I don’t mean to say that these kinds of questions aren’t valid or important; nor do I believe that it isn’t ever interesting to reimagine a classic for the modern stage. Certainly those questions are both valid and important. But as an audience member I don’t need to see Hermes whip out a BlackBerry to feel that they have been thoughtfully addressed.

---

Taproot seems to have put a lot of thought into what makes (and keeps) this classic story relevant and compelling, and the result is both without resorting to shorthand or cheap tricks. In this regard, Taproot excels.

Director Scott Nolte and his cast maintain the primacy of storytelling throughout and present a gimmick-free Odyssey that is both accessible and deeply engrossing. Zimmerman’s script is quirky at times, winking at its modern audience without making major departures from the arc or intent of the tale. Under Nolte’s direction both the humanity and the humor shine through.

Though I’ve been seeing theatre in Seattle since I was too young to get drunk and complain about it, this is the first time I’ve made the trip up to Greenwood. I’ve seen a lot of classical productions south of the ship canal that could stand to learn something from Taproot’s approach.

Accomplished local actor Mark Chamberlin is predictably excellent as the play’s eponymous hero, surrounded by a sizable supporting ensemble portraying scores of other characters. Nikki Visel (Athena, et al.) also stands out, driving the story and deftly shepherding the audience through the complexities of the plot. The visual elements are elegantly simple and effective, particularly Sarah Burch Gordon’s clever costumes.

Whether there’s a dog-eared copy of Robert Fitzgerald’s Odyssey on your bookshelf or your exposure to this classic comes exclusively from tellings that are more, um, modern, Taproot has an entertaining and family-friendly winner here with something to offer almost anybody.