The Haddonfield Memorial High School Drama Club will take audiences on an epic journey this fall with Greek Gods, mythical monsters and a daring protagonist in its fall play, “The Odyssey,” based on the well-known epic of the same name. The play will be performed Oct. 20 and 22 at 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 23 at 2 p.m. in the HMHS auditorium.
“Come out to support the talented students of the HMHS Drama Club, to be enriched and entertained, to be awed by the special effects and the simple creativity of the storytelling,” director Heather Vaughn said.
“It’s a really cool story, under great direction,” Riley Crompton, playing the part of Penelope, said.
Vaughn had been wanting to do the play version of “The Odyssey,” by Mary Zimmerman, based on Robert Fitzgerald’s translation of Homer’s “The Odyssey,” and felt with this year’s talented cast, it was the right year to perform it. Plus, “The Odyssey” is a tale that almost all high school students read in their studies, with HMHS students reading it in ninth grade.
“After a few years of working with the talented students of the HMHS Drama Club, I was ready to challenge them, and myself, with a stage adaptation of a classic work — and one that is read in English 9 at the high school,” Vaughn said.
“The language (in the play) is really modern and eloquent, while still being very accessible,” Cuinlan Pedretti, playing Odysseus, said.
The 28-member cast has only six weeks to work on the play and, with some characters having more than 300 lines and all of them portraying more than 55 characters, the challenge is tough. However, the cast seems up to the challenge and is excited to perform the classic for Haddonfield audiences to see.
“The Odyssey” centers on the title role, Odysseus, a hero from the Trojan War who is trying to get home. The audience is taken on a fantastical journey along with Odysseus to find out why it has taken him so long to get home to his wife and son, now 20 years old, all while meeting a lot of interesting characters and getting to know Odysseus along the way.
“I love the adventures of Odysseus and his clever, cunning ways,” Vaughn said.
“My favorite part is the Cyclops scene, it’s blocked in a really cool way,” Crompton said.
Although “The Odyssey” was written hundreds of years ago, there are many references and themes that are still relevant for today’s audience.
“Themes that are prevalent in ‘The Odyssey’ are still themes we hear about or struggle with now: honesty, perseverance, homesickness, paying consequences, fatherless sons, loyalty … the list goes on,” Vaughn said.
“I think it is really important to keep these classical pieces in our culture and keep people exposed. There is something really wonderful about being in something classical … it is so timeless,” Joanna Moles, playing the part of Athena, said.
The director and cast hope those who attend become enthralled in the storytelling, so much so it feels like they are in ancient Greece listening to the tale.
“Since a lot of the play goes in and out of narration by many characters, mostly Odysseus and Athena, my hope is that the audience will become so engaged by the story that it seems real, like they are there hearing a recent, true story. Like in the days of Homer, when stories were shared orally, much of this play is dialogue and action tied together with narration,” Vaughn said.
The HMHS fall play of “The Odyssey” will be performed at the HMHS auditorium on Oct. 20, 22 and 23, skipping Friday for the football game. Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for students, and are available at the school.
