The Odyssey Audio Drama

Ahoy mates!

Well, we’ve got just one more song to sing before we shove off to our next audio adventure.

Our sailing production of The Odyssey sent us all around the waters of the San Francisco Bay in autumn of 2011... and then, we found ourselves washed up on the shores of Ithaka in spring of 2012…

Ayala Cove, the primary anchorage for Angel Island California State Park, is where we dropped the hook for several months, while building an epic, island-wide production of The Odyssey on this 800 acre stage. Our audiences followed Odysseus’ son Telemachus along the isle’s five mile perimeter route, as he searched for his father. Along the way, they encountered gods on high, perched atop Mount Olympus - an 80 foot quarried cliff on the windward side - and monsters of the deep, the horrible Scylla and Charybdis - on the cold-war era Nike Missile launching station. They escaped the Lotus-Eaters, were doted on by Calypso’s nymphs, and received sacred blessings at Athena’s temple. The wandering bard Phemius appeared throughout the journey, guiding the travelers and regaling them with storied songs.

We hope you enjoy this special treasure, “The Victims of Circe”, written and performed by Ryan Beebe and Josh Cook.

When we last left our shipmates, they both received and squandered the gifts of Aeolus, great King of the Wind. Aeolus had sent them off from his fine isle of Aiolia, well fed and their ship well provisioned. He entrusted a bag of contrary winds to Captain Odysseus, and set a favoring breeze in their sails to ensure a quick and easeful passage home. Well, the crew’s curiosity and conniving led them to open the bag, releasing the fearsome winds, and driving them straight back to the shores of Aiolia. The Wind King’s favor dried and cracked, these men must be cursed by the gods! Thus the crew continued sadly onward, narrowly escaping the hideous Lystragones, revolting and formidable giants. They rowed away ferociously, their hunger for home stretching their very sinews. Yet, there are still singing sirens to escape and storms yet to blow. Will our shipmates ever see their land again?

When we last left our shipmates - seekers of shadows in the House of Death, they had spilled the red blood of the black ewe and allowed the dead to approach and drink. Each shade who tasted the fresh, hot blood spoke to Odysseus...his mother, the great hero Achilles, and of course the blind seer Tiresias whose prophecy stretched far into Odysseus’ future, speaking of the many trials he would still suffer before reaching his sweet homeland; how upon reaching those longed for shores of Ithaka, he must know and be prepared for further treachery awaiting him in those hallowed halls. The crew left the gray banks of the underworld, cheering themselves onwards with a song of their conquests. Where will they find themselves next?

When we last left our shipmates they were preparing to depart the witch Circe and her enchanted isle of Aiaia. Their dreams of embarking for Ithaka still hover out of reach, as Circe has set their course for the shores of the underworld - a destination few mortals have ever attempted to reach…and returned alive to tell of it. Circe instructs Odysseus to seek out the blind prophet Tiresias for his counsel. The Kingdom of the Shades awaits…

When we last left our shipmates they were rowing for their lives! The crew narrowly escaped the fearsome Cyclops, who howled in agony over his stolen eye. The Cyclops sent a powerful prayer to his father Poseidon that Odysseus and his men be cursed upon the seas. Will the curse come true? Where will the crew end up next? Mayhap on more gentle shores? The shores of a sorceress perhaps?

When we last left our shipmates they had just set sail and were headed off to great adventures on the wine dark sea. Soon they will find themselves upon the shores of the mighty one-eyed giant - THE CYCLOPS! A gentle shepherd to his beloved lambs, but a gruesome and hungry eater of men! How will Odysseus and his crew fare upon this monster’s rocky shores?

Welcome aboard The Odyssey Audio Drama!

We Players originally performed The Odyssey in late 2011, voyaging with our audiences upon the waters of San Francisco Bay aboard the historic scow schooner Alma. We sailed past the sirens, we anchored off Angel Island, we feasted on cheese and olives and bread aboard the ship, we sang sea chanteys, and we awakened the muse of these ancient tales!

Here on our virtual ocean, imagine that salt spray and sea breeze, the splash of the waves against the wooden hull and the creaks and groans of the rigging.

The voyage begins again.