“Circe came up to me and said, ‘Odysseus, noble son of Laertes, go back at once to the sea where you have left your ship, and first draw it on to the land. Then, hide all your ship’s gear and property in some cave, and come back here with your men.’
And I answered, ‘Circe, how can you expect me to be friendly with you when you have just been turning all my men into pigs? And now that you have got me here myself, you will unman me. I shall certainly not consent unless you will first take your solemn oath to plot no further harm against me.’ So she swore at once as I had told her, and when she had completed her oath then I went to bed with her.
We stayed with Circe for a whole twelvemonth."
THE ISLAND
Featuring
Beckett Gray (Nemea)
Rufus Love (Odysseus)
Jay Reum (Philoctetes)
Alexandra Scott (Circe)
Leon Vien (Tiresias)
Michael Stafford Wells (Ajax)
Arden Winant (The Receptionist)
Shades: Karolina Komorowska, Tanjim Rahman, Eunice Namuche Villavicenio, Robert Wood, Carl Xie, Natalia Izquierdo and Robert Zabiti
Recordings by:
Dan Harray (Agamemnon)
Chelsey Ng (Penelope)
“Odysseus, noble son of Laertes, you shall none of you stay here any longer if you do not want to, but there is another journey which you have got to take before you can sail homewards. You must go to the house of Hades and of dread Proserpine to consult the ghost of the blind Theban prophet Tiresias, whose reason is still unshaken.”
Written and Directed by Michael Bontatibus
Stage Managers: Amy Ashcroft & Olivia Wolfenden
Sound Design: Trey McGee
Lighting: Ben Edwards
Dance Choreography: Bonny Rose
Fight Choregraphy: Marcello Marascalchi
Intimacy Coordinator: Steve Brownlie
Video Editing: Jimmy Bontatibus & Nate Lessler
“I have an unknown amount of toil still to undergo. It is long and difficult, but I must go through with it, for thus the shade of Tiresias prophesied concerning me, on the day when I went down into Hades to ask about my return and that of my companions.”
Production Manager: Laura Mann
Site Stage Manager: Naomi Wildridge
Technical Stage Manager: Pip Snow
Sound Recordist: Bruce Sharp
Design Support: Hardy Gru
Construction Technician: Fred Nobre
Costume Support: Kate Page, Kat Stone, Aylin Altinelli
Production Assistants: Tom Brown, Emma Novak, Robert Zabiti
Special thanks to SevenCapital & Dan Bugler, Colin Nightingale, Aquarius Archery Club, LAMDA, Emily Barker, Amir Shafiei, Natalia Izquierdo, Susannah Bramwell, and Middlesex University
“Then some malicious god conveyed Odysseus to the upland farm where his swineherd lives. He came so unexpectedly that none of us knew him, though he was in his own house. Then he cunningly made his wife offer his bow; and this was the beginning of our end. When it was about to reach the hands of Odysseus, we all of us shouted out that it should not be given him, no matter what he might say, but Telemachus insisted on his having it. When he had got it in his hands he strung it with ease and sent his arrow through the iron. Then he stood on the floor of the cloister and poured his arrows on the ground, glaring fiercely about him. First he killed Antinous, and then, aiming straight before him, he let fly his deadly darts and they fell thick on one another. There was a hideous sound of groaning as our brains were being battered in, and the ground seethed with our blood. This, Agamemnon, is how we came by our end, and our bodies are lying still uncared for in the house of Odysseus.”