Homer's ‘The Odyssey’ to play at National Theatre in 2023

The National Theatre celebrates its 60th anniversary next year.

Homer’s The Odyssey will be retold for a contemporary audience next year as part of the National Theatre’s 60th-annivesary celebrations. The Odyssey epic will be broken down into five “episodes”, with parts staged across England's regional theatres before the final episode in London in 2023.

The Odyssey will be staged at the Olivier Theatre in August 2023, and the project will involve over 140 actors from across the United Kingdom.

Homer's The Odyssey is a collection of Greek epic poems that follows Odysseus and his journey home after the Trojan War. The 2000-year old text The Odyssey is split into 24 books, and the first English translation of The Odyssey dates back to the 16th century.

Each The Odyssey episode onstage will include a self-contained narrative, meaning audiences can watch one part of the show. All parts will open with the same prologue, and the same song will be performed with variations in each city. The London episode will be the final part of The Odyssey theatre event, and is set to include recaps of the previous performances.

The Odyssey is expected to open in Stoke-on-Trent on 1 April 2023, before future performances in Doncaster, Trowbridge and Sunderland in April. The Odyssey in London runs from 27 - 29 Aug. 2023.

The Odyssey creative team includes Director of Public Acts Emily Lim, playwright and lyricist Chris Bush and music composer Jim Fortune .

Further details of The Odyssey in London, as well as 2023 programming at the National Theatre, is to be announced.

The National Theatre is currently home to Small Island and you can book Small Island tickets now on London Theatre. Find out upcoming shows at the National Theatre.

Photo credit: National Theatre (Photo by Garry Knight on Flickr)