Production images released for The Odyssey: The Underworld at the National Theatre
The National Theatre today releases production photography for The Odyssey: The Underworld, the epic finale of the NT’s landmark multi-location production celebrating national community, written by Olivier award-winning playwright Chris Bush, with music by Jim Fortune and directed by Director of Public Acts Emily Lim.
Staged as a full-scale musical production, The Odyssey: The Underworld features a 160-strong company of people from across the nation alongside a cast of professional actors, musicians and cameo performance groups to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Public Acts, the NT’s nationwide programme to create extraordinary acts of theatre and community.
This fifth and final episode of the multi-location production brings together community participants from the first four episodes of The Odyssey including those from Restoke in Stoke-on-Trent, Cast in Doncaster, Trowbridge Town Hall in Trowbridge, The Fire Station (for Sunderland Culture in partnership with Sunderland Empire) in Sunderland as well as Public Acts founding theatre partner Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch, and Trybe House Theatre in London.
The full professional cast includes Amy Booth-Steel (Blue Jean) as Calypso, Tarinn Callender (Hamilton) as Telemachus, Sharon Duncan-Brewster (Dune) as Odysseus, Victoria Hamilton-Barritt (Hex) as Poseidon, Emma Prendergast (Eastenders) as Athena, and Zubin Varla (Tammy Faye) as Hades.
Cameo performances will also be featured from The London Bodhrán Band, Haringey Vox Choir, Impact Dance Group, and South Wales Gay Men’s Chorus.
The creative team also includes set designer Sadeysa Greenaway-Bailey, movement director Dan Canham, costume designer Fly Davis, music supervisor and musical director Tarek Merchant, lighting designer Joshua Pharo and sound designer Paul Arditti.
Playwright Chris Bush, said ‘It’s been a pleasure to weave together this epic story of endurance, love and humanity. Assembling our own mini pantheon for world-class artists, performers and communities from across the nation has been a joy. There isn’t anything else quite like it out there.’
The Odyssey: The Underworld plays in the Olivier theatre from 26th to 28th August.
All performances of The Odyssey: The Underworld are audio-described, captioned and chilled. A British Sign Language interpreted performance will take place on Monday 28 August at 2pm.
For further information and to book tickets, please visit the NT Website.