Wandering at the Fringes

Although Physical Theatre is a vague category that usually eschews tradition and slips between genres, Theatre Ad Infinitum's Odyssey takes a strict story-telling approach to a classic tale, and works from a defined heritage. Its success at 2009's Fringe is doubtless due to the all-ages energy of George Mann's performance, and the inspiration of Jacques Lecoq.

Originally a physical educator, Lecoq moved into performance and sought a new ways of engaging the body, away from cliches of mime towards a dynamic fusion of movement and words. Nir Paldi's direction uses Lecoq techniques to conjure a Homeric universe of "magic, characters, spaces, colours, and whole islands."

Although this solo show harks back to the oral origins of The Odyssey, it is contemporary in its presentation. The arrival of divine forces, the unruly sea that traps Odysseus, the sensual reunion of hero and wife are all expressed through the body. Mann fills the stage with gods, monsters and, most memorably, vicious suitors.

Without shying away from the adventure's brutality , this Odyssey revitalises an over-familiar myth, simultaneously showcasing Lecoq style and capturing the romance and horror of the epic narrative.