Ian McKellen, Andrew Scott, Stanley Tucci and Juliet Stevenson are among the performers set to give voice to Homer’s The Odyssey when the Almeida Theatre’s epic reading is staged in many locations across the capital tomorrow.
The quartet of stage and screen stars are joined by War Horse actor Jeremy Irvine, Downton Abbey’s Jessica Brown Findlay, current National Theatre stars Paul Chahidi and Olivia Williams, Primeval’s Douglas Henshall, Misfits’ Robert Sheehan, Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company member Tom Bateman, Vanessa Kirby (A Streetcar Named Desire, Young Vic), Indira Varma (Man And Superman, NT) and Tom Goodman-Hill (The Effect, NT).
A host of actors who contributed to the venue’s reading of The Iliad this summer will also return for the Homer sequel. They include Simon Russell Beale, Bertie Carvel, Noma Dumezweni, Jenna Russell, Jonjo O’Neill, Amanda Drew, Kate Fleetwood, Lia Williams, Prasanna Puwanarajah, Naomi Frederick, Lorna Brown, Hara Yannas, Susannah Fielding, Michael Shaeffer, Luke Thompson, Ian Hart, Scott Handy, Annie Firbank, Janet Suzman and Joshua Higgott.
The extensive line-up is completed by Adrian Scarborough, Anna Madeley, Amanda Boxer, Amanda Hale, Andy De La Tour, Annette McLaughlin, Ashley Zhangazha, Bryony Hannah, Carmen Munroe, Charlotte Randle, Cherrelle Skeete, Elizabeth Chan, Emily Berrington, Forbes Masson, George MacKay, Ivanno Jeremiah, Justin Salinger, Louise Brealey, Michele Austin, Miranda Richardson, Rhashan Stone, Richard Cant, Rudi Dharmalingam and Toby Jones.
The reading, which will be screened live on the Almeida Theatre’s website, will take place in iconic and unusual locations across London – including the Almeida Theatre, Tower Pier, Islington Town Hall and a secret location to be disclosed on the day where audiences are invited to watch live – from 8:30.
August’s live reading of The Iliad involved an equally impressive troupe of 66 actors, who between them read all 18,255 lines of the ancient Greek poem, reaching more than 50,000 people across the world.
Audiences keen to catch the second Greek epic, which is directed by Rupert Goold and Robert Icke as part of the Almeida Theatre’s acclaimed Greeks season, are encouraged to join the conversation on Twitter using @AlmeidaOdyssey and #Odyssey