An Albion Odyssey

A junior school production. The cast was made up of students aged 11 to 14 who rehearsed over the course of 8 weeks.

My Director's Note from the programme:

In the Medieval chronicles, Teneu is a princess who is banished from her father’s kingdom when she refuses to take a knight’s hand in marriage. Left to fend for herself in the woods of Scotland, Teneu is attacked by the knight and bears his child. Her father, discovering that she is pregnant out of wedlock, sentences her to death. Miraculously, she survives and gives birth to a son who goes on to found the city of Glasgow. Teneu is introduced as the niece of King Arthur and the daughter of King Loth, and her story ends abruptly when she becomes a mother. But what if we could reimagine the story of Scotland’s first recorded unmarried mother? What if we could rewrite the narrative, allowing her to fight monsters, explore oceans, negotiate with wizards, and reunite with her mother? We decided to change the narrative and forge a new story full of adventure and discovery. Taking inspiration from the Homeric epic The Odyssey, our Teneu embarks on a homecoming journey, encountering different myths and legends of the British Isles along the way.

The writer Logan Jones has written a script full of fantastical characters and impossible stage directions for the students to get stuck into. The impossible stage directions have been at the core of the rehearsal process. Their impossibility is what galvanises us to be creative and play with different interpretations and staging possibilities. How do you stage a woman turning into a seal? How do you show a wolf transforming into a man? How do you make an underwater scene in a school theatre space in Hammersmith? Through the power of imagination of course! Crucial to making this possible has been the collaboration with the students. From the contributions from the cast within the rehearsal room, to the creativity of drama students in the UIV making our puppets, the students have been able to take ownership of the piece. I hope that this performance will inspire the imaginations of our audience as much as it has inspired our students.

As we prepare for our performances, I think back to our first rehearsal with the cast of An Albion Odyssey. Sat in a large circle in an empty theatre, the whole company read aloud those words for the first time. Since then, I have had the immense pleasure of watching this story come to life. I have seen friendships being made, imaginations being stretched, and fears overcome. It has reminded me of the power of theatre to bring together communities and better understand the world around us.