Odyssey

Show - Odyssey
Group - Theatre Ad Infinitum
Genre - Physical Theatre
Venue - Pleasance Dome
Time - 2:50
Ticket - £7.50

Physical theatre at the Fringe can be a difficult thing to gauge before you see it.  It is pretty rare that a show description will tell you too much, as by the very nature of the beast, the themes tend to be a little more abstract.  This was not quite the case with Odyssey.

Put simply, the show is a storytelling of the voyage of Odysseus back to Ithaca after the Trojan war.  Put more complexly, it is a one man show showcasing the incredible physical and vocal talents of one of the most talented physical actors I have seen in a long time - George Mann.  From the building of a swirling mass with his hands to represent the Gods on Olympus, to the repeated actions for each character as their name is mentioned, to the musical singsong falsetto of Calypso the nymph, Mann has truly built a piece that draws you in.  Every movement is perfectly measured, and is an absolute joy from beginning to end.

For storytelling physical theatre, you could not do much better than this, but equally it is not just for physical theatre buffs.  Worth a look from everybody.

5/5