No doubt Homer's The Odyssey has been staged and adapted to dozens of unusual sites and situations. Has it ever been done in a 35,000-square-foot space on the 15th floor of a Wall Street office building? Not until now. On March 19, a new theatre company called "Gale Gates et al" will open Wine-Blue-Open-Water, a site-specific version of The Odyssey described by executive producer Karen Dalzell as, "a panoramic visual installation inhabited by performers."
Michael Counts directs the cast of 35 to a musical score by Joseph Diebes. As they follow Telemachus' search for his father, Odysseus, audiences will be surrounded by a changing landscape including "ocean, beach, forest and temple." Making their appearance will be two Athenas, Calypso, Scylla and Charibydis.
Counts, also the designer, staged 90 Degrees in 1995. That piece transplanted a 2-acre field of grass to the 51st floor of an office building.
The company's name, Gale Gates et al, is taken from Counts' recently deceased grandmother, who gave Counts emotional and financial support in starting the troupe.
For tickets ($18-$22) to Wine-Blue-Open-Water at 67 Broad Street in Manhattan through April 26, call (212) 269-7858.
--By David Lefkowitz