Physical comedy isn't necessarily my cup of tea. That obviously does not say anything about the production because both Thomas Niehaus and Paul Schröder, who's acting is the core of “Die Odyssee”, are superb, knowing exactly when something is too much but also how to get an additional laugh out from the audience. The production itself opens with two guys meeting at a funeral parlour. They have both come there to say goodbye to their father who just happens to be the same man, as it turns out. After an hour or so of all kinds of scenes, some funnier than others, one could think of when there's a coffin on stage, “Die Odyssee” makes a most welcome shift to what at first seems like an abstract, fantasy let wild bricolage (imagine swans from Matthew Bourne's lake-ballet meeting Marat' taking his final bath meeting …) but is actually a rather witty re-telling of the old myth/story that's referenced in the title of the production. The end makes another shift towards craziness (let me just mention chainsaw here) but by that time I was already a bit over-fed with jokes. Again, I'm more of a coffee person anyway.
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