The Odyssey

The Odyssey was the five-episode story of Odysseus’ epic journey, created by and performed at our partner organisations across the UK. The journey of Odysseus, the most resilient of heroes, told a universal story of endurance, loss, healing and of finding a way forwards together. We are so proud of our collaboration with communities from across the country who told this story of hope as one united national company.

The first four episodes were created, written and performed by local artists and communities in four partner organisations across the country: Restoke in Stoke-on-Trent, Cast in Doncaster, Trowbridge Town Hall and Sunderland Culture in partnership with Sunderland Empire.

The fifth episode’s company was made up of professional actors and community members from each of our partner locations, with 146 members taking to the Olivier Stage at the National Theatre in August 2023.

Each part of The Odyssey was written by a local writer: Gabriella Gay for Stoke-Upon-Trent, Tajinder Singh Hayer for Doncaster, Florence Espeut-Nickless for Trowbridge, Lindsay Rodden for Sunderland, and returning writer Chris Bush for Episode 5 in London, who was also dramaturg for the whole story.