2024 - 8th Play - Anon(ymous) - An Adaptation of the Odyssey by Naomi Iizuka

Yesterday I needed something that I could get through fairly quickly. Yes, sometimes that’s how I pick plays. But it was one that I’ve had and wanted to read anyway. This was a beautiful, sad journey of a play.

Summary: “Separated from his mother, a young refugee called Anon journeys through the United States, encountering a wide variety of people -- some kind, some dangerous and cruel -- as he searches for his family. From a sinister one-eyed butcher to beguiling barflies to a sweatshop, Anon must navigate through a chaotic, ever-changing landscape in this entrancing adaptation of Homer's The Odyssey.” From Playscripts.

Laura’s thoughts in brief: To be honest, I didn’t realize this play was an adaptation of The Odyssey until I had read a few pages and looked back at the first page for character information. I’m not an expert on The Odyssey, although I have some familiarity with parts of it. Some things in the play now make more sense to me - perhaps a smarter (more literate?) reader would have caught on more quickly. Ah well. What I did take away from the piece, very profoundly, was the refugee and title character Anon’s sense of loss and being lost. It really stuck out to me that in almost every scene he gave people a different name to call him. What must that do to a person’s sense of self? I also didn’t realize until I started looking for images that this was written as a children’s play. Yikes - I think it would be valuable learning, but certain scenes were scary, particularly the scene with the one-eyed Mr. Zyclo (the Cyclops character - which I discovered by reading a review. Doh! Okay, I was reading fast - looking back it’s all pretty obvious.) That second scene where he’s covered in blood … ick. That one was too scary for me - maybe kids would be okay with it … The scene in the sewing factory with Mr. Yuri Mackus constantly begging Nemasani (Anon’s lost mother) to marry him is creepy, even more now in 2024 as we’re more aware of the problematic nature of those things, but sadly it’s not unrealistic. I didn’t understand all of the play, but overall you get potent insights into what it might be like to be a refugee. I was particularly moved by the sections with the Chorus of Refugees. They spoke lines like” Where I come from is waterfalls taller than the tallest skyscraper,” “Where I come from is the smell of orchid and mango and ripe papaya,” and later, after a truck accident, lines like “My name was Malik. I was like the murmering wind,” and “My name was Duc. I had so many hopes,” and lastly “Remember me.” The final words we hear from them are “I shed my skin. I changed my name. I became Anonymous. My name is Anonymous.” … Anyone that is shouting for tighter border patrols needs to read this play, or at least the parts of it sung/spoken by the Chorus of Refugees. It’s heartbreaking and beautifully written, leaving you with a sense of loss of so much humanity. I read this play after hearing an NPR broadcast about a children’s hospital being bombed in Kiev, and those lines just engraved themselves on my soul. Sadly, this play has been relevant for all of human history, and is still incredibly relevant now. I love that it requires a wonderful amount of creativity that is needed for the creation of a shipwreck, city tunnels, a sweatshop, an Indian restaurant, and more. That being said, I’m not sure that this is my play to do, and I think seeing it would not be easy, but would be beautiful and educational, and definitely better than merely reading it, although that was powerful too.

READ MORE! Here’s what others had to say about productions:

https://artsknoxville.com/index.php/2024/03/25/review-cbts-anonymous-frames-the-odyssey-through-the-lives-of-refugees/

https://dctheaterarts.org/2018/10/13/anonymous-by-theatre-prometheus-at-the-silver-spring-black-box/

https://dctheatrescene.com/2018/10/16/review-anonymous/

https://transyrambler.com/2016/11/11/1806-2/

https://ctxlivetheatre.com/reviews/20171113-review-anonymous-by-mary-moody-northen-th/