Mix a tale of a Greek hero and his gods, a dose of deliciously campy comedy, and a subtle poke at the patriarchy, and you’ll get the We Players’ new show, “Odyssea”. Director Ava Roy leads this all-female cast in a site-specific ode to the classics at the San Francisco County Fair Building. Five cleaners carrying mops, vacuums, and other cleaning apparatus burst noisily onto the scene in fluorescent Parks and Rec vests.
They begin to clean, fumbling with the equipment and looking around as if this is the first time they’ve been here. We quickly learn that this is no cleaning crew. They are, in fact, a secret society of classics fans who disguise themselves to sneak into academic conferences to reenact the classics. On this night, they have come to bargain-basement cosplay “The Odyssey”.
Ava Roy, Lauren Hayes, Libby Oberlin, Ling Ling Lee and Britt Lauer in We Players’ “Odyssea,” Photo by Lauren Matley.
I once had a teacher say, “You have to be really smart to be this dumb.” This absolutely seems to be the case as the players poke fun at Homer’s tale, repeating words like “hermeneutics” in the reverent tones of a prayer while arguing the finer points of historical accuracy. All five announce themselves to be Odysseus as they cheerfully reenact this famous tale of woe.
The low-budget props, kept in bags and cleaning carts, appear and disappear with a timed precision that belies the chaos onstage. Ling Ling Lee, as the Cyclops, simply dons a top hat with a large googly eye while holding a stuffed lamb. When it comes time to eat Odysseus’ men, stuffed white shirts with red balloons for heads are provided for the carnage.
The comedic timing does not falter once. The ability of the entire ensemble, Lauren Hayes, Britt Lauer, Ava Roy, Ling Ling Lee and Libby Oberlin, to morph into different characters with a piece of cloth and a tilt of the head, all while staying true to the story, is an impressive feat.
Ava Roy, Britt Lauer, Lauren Hayes and Britt Oberlin in We Players “Odyssea”. Photo by Lauren Matley.
Lauer’s Circe glides across the stage with the glittering smile of a 1950s Hollywood star. Lee’s Hermes prances in with a bubble gun, channelling something between “Fifth Element’s” Ruby Rhod and my stern Aunt Sue. All of this manages to take us through to the end with remarkable accuracy.
To see this tragic tale told in a constant state of play and lightness is a perfect antidote to Christopher Nolan’s epic summer film. It’s like a love letter written to the classics by a teen superfan.
Though the We Players are well known for their site-specific interactive productions in places like Fort Point, “Odyssea” proves that these performers are equally adept at telling a good tale in any way they please.
“Odyssea” will play through October 18 at the San Francisco County Fair Building. For tickets, visit their website: https://www.weplayers.org
