Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Lee Armstrong, Simon Dutton, Roger Evans, Polly Frame, David Hartley, Ranjit Krishnamma, Chris Reilly, Sule Rimi, Danusia Samal, Colin Tierney, Susie Trayling.

A man is sent on a mission by a powerful leader, a man to whom his days of adventure are said to be behind him and to whom nothing would displease him more than being sent away far from home, sent to a land where the customs and practices are now as alien to him as those who share his national flag abroad. It is a story as old as recorded time itself and yet one that plays itself out over and over again as each generation repeats The Odyssey, duplicates the trials of Odysseus, just in nicer suits and with a flair for diplomatic disaster enshrined into the mission.

In Simon Armitage’s The Odyssey: Missing Presumed Dead the days after the fall of Troy are captured in a more contemporary setting and just as equally a bear pit of subterfuge and political assassination as a Government minister is sent to Istanbul to watch England claim a spot at the next World Cup and the fallout from intervening in a brawl ensures that the old maxim of “To whom the Gods would destroy…”

In both Simon Dutton and Colin Tierney, the lead male roles were in the hands of theatrical geniuses, actors who could hold the Everyman Theatre audience spellbound with a single gesture or even the well placed expletive paused for dramatic effect, words from a Prime Minister that might not be used outside the usual confines of Government, the wry smile of a lost general, a hero of the Greeks and Ithica, all were fused and made whole in both these men’s outstanding talented hands.

For Polly Frame though the roles of Anthea/Athena was a master stroke, a joy of acting which gave the use of Gods of Greek mythology a clearer modern perspective than might have been expected. The use of feminine guile, wit and persuasion all wrapped up in the appearance of a Prime Minister’s daughter who captured what it was to be hold power without being recognised for it. A simple task perhaps in real life but on the stage, it is one that requires great skill to uphold as not to get lost in the maelstrom surrounding the testosterone of alleged masculine politics.

Whereas both Mr. Dutton’s and Mr. Tierney’s performance were nothing less than shining examples of wonderfully worded craft made flesh and humanity like substance, in Polly Frame the world rested upon her shoulders and it was a true delight to be gripped by her performance.

For Simon Armitage the pressure of putting together a play that brought modern day jackal like intrigue into the world of politics, a world where a person can be tarnished by a single still photograph and merging it with one of the great tales of heroism and adventure from antiquity was a tremendous achievement but nonetheless one that should never have been doubted that he would give to the nation. Poetry in the form of drama, poetic and sublimely lyrical in every aspect, The Odyssey: Missing Presumed Dead is a treat for the ears, a delicacy for the brain, a play that could have only been put together by a man rich in verse as Simon Armitage.

Ian D. Hall