The Odyssey: A Stage Version

With its inspired counterpointing of Homeric and Caribbean themes, Derek Walcott's new play, commissioned by Britain's Royal Shakespeare Company, springs from the same imaginative sources as his epic poemOmeros. Episodes of the story of Odysseus' protracted wanderings from fallen Troy to his island home of Ithaca are pungently interspersed with a commentary by the blind singer Billy Blue. Proteus, the Old Man of the Sea, the giant Cyclops, Circe and her revellers, ghosts, and mermaids are among the cast. With its vast sweep and richly figurative language,The Odysseyconfirms that Derek Walcott is as compelling a playwright as he is a poet. Derek Walcottwas born in St. Lucia, the West Indies, in 1930. HisCollected Poems: 1948-1984was published in 1986, and his subsequent works include a book-length poem,Omeros(1990); a collection of verse,The Bounty(1997); and, in an edition illustrated with his own paintings, the long poemTiepolo's Hound(2000). His most recent collections of plays areThe Haitian Trilogy(2001) andWalker and The Ghost Dance(2002). Walcott received the Queen's Medal for Poetry in 1988 and the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1992. He has also been given the 2004 Anisfield-Wolf Lifetime Achievement Award. With its inspired counterpointing of Homeric and Caribbean themes, Derek Walcott'sOdyssey, commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company, springs from the same imaginative sources as his brilliant epic poemOmeros. Episodes of the story of Odysseus' protracted wanderings from fallen Troy to his island home of Ithaca are pungently interspersed with a commentary by the blind singer Billy Blue. Proteus, the Old Man of the Sea, the giant Cyclops, Circe and her revellers, ghosts, and mermaids are among the cast. With its vast sweep and richly figurative language,The Odysseyconfirms that Walcott is as compelling a playwright as he is a poet.

Derek Walcott was born in Saint Lucia, the West Indies, in 1930. The author of many plays and numerous books of poetry, he was awarded the Queen's Medal for Poetry in 1988 and the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1992. He lives in Saint Lucia and Boston, where he is completing a collection of essays.