Modern Queer Retelling Of The Odyssey Opens Today

NY SUMMERFEST at the Hudson Guild Theatre, presents Ogygia. Ogygia is a modern queer retelling of the Greek myth of Calypso set in an inpatient psych ward.

This play tackles issues of mental illness, queer relationships, and finding your identity through an evocative combination of prose-poetry and mythological storytelling.

World Calypso is admitted to the hospital, falls in love with a fellow patient named Sascha, and grapples with her deteriorating mental health. Forest Calypso, the embodiment of all Calypso's desires, hungers, and fears, allows the audience to see Calypso's internal struggles as she slowly but surely becomes a part of a mythical forest, attempting to bring World Calypso with her. The story isn't only conveyed in dialogue, instead moving through the gap between what World Calypso says and Forest Calypso thinks.

Straddling the fine line between fantasy and reality, Ogygia asks the audience to take a long look in the mirror- what lives inside our own minds? What stories do we tell ourselves? With half of the story taking place in a mythical forest and the other half in a psych ward, Ogygia questions the role of narrative in our lives.

In writing Ogygia the two goals were to create an accurate portrayal of mental illness and queerness for young women, and to experiment with including poetry in theater. Ogygia is a brutally honest portrayal of the modern experience of being young, queer, and unhappy. Theater has to be truly vulnerable in order to reach people, and Ogygia is an unflinching look at love, loss, and the gaps we all try to fill in each other.

Ogygia is written, crewed, produced, and brought to life by a cast full of young women and GNC folks, bringing the stories of queer women and GNC folks to the New York stage. Morgan Smith, playwright, is known for works focusing on young women and the queer experience.

Cast includes: Danielle Baez, Lindsey Weiss, Jasmine Louis, and Caroline Festa. It is directed by Margaret Baughman, and includes original music composition by Kimberly O'Loughlin. Ogygia premieres at the Hudson Guild Theatre on September 19th, 6:15pm. Tickets are $23. Tickets and information are available at https://m.bpt.me/event/4251474.

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