‘Odyssey' rich in fabric but flawed in concept

It started with a mesmerizing staging of Sarah Ruhl’s “Metamorphoses” in 2006, followed by a flawed production of her “Eurydice” in 2007. In 2008, there was a bold original adaptation of Sophocles’ “Antigone,” set to music no less.

Now, artistic director Richard Garner and his experienced Georgia Shakespeare associates continue that Greek tradition with their company-developed “The Odyssey: A Journey Home.” In retelling the classic Homer myth about Odysseus and his long way back from the Trojan Wars, they have created a visually arresting new work.

The show’s recurring use of flowing fabrics is especially breathtaking -- simulating the waves of a storm-tossed sea, hoisted as a screen behind which to cast chilling shadows of the six-headed Scylla, or worn by Odysseus (Joe Knezevich) as a cloak by which his wife, Penelope (Tess Malis Kincaid), and son, Telemachus (Craig Thompson), hope against hope to reel him in.

The stylistic idea may be Garner’s, but in the truest sense of the collaborative process he writes about in his program notes, each member of the design team (scenery by Kat Conley, lighting by Mike Post, costumes by Sydney Roberts) incorporates it to great effect (if anyone were credited for props, they’d deserve mention, too).

In the play’s most striking sequence, Odysseus finds himself on shaky ground in an ominous land of the dead. Up from the depths, from beneath the fabric surface of the stage, spirits emerge and take shape. You might recognize their voices as belonging to such Georgia Shakespeare vets as Carolyn Cook, Bruce Evers and Chris Kayser, but they appear only as shrouded figures, their faces tightly outlined in silk. At the end of the scene, in a stunning instant, the fabric abruptly recedes through a trap door.

Next to something so vividly realized, it’s distinctly disappointing that “The Odyssey” basically reduces to comic relief the famous encounter with Cyclops -- here, a cheesy presence with a light bulb for an eye, not very imposing or threatening at all. (Besides, if it’s comic relief you want, there’s no topping the ever-versatile Cook; in addition to portraying the stately goddess Athena, she offers finely tuned, well-timed bits as the clever enchantress Circe and the dotty nursemaid Eurycleia, among other parts.)

Alas, while its theatrical flourishes are many, the show’s thematic concept is faulty, more nobly intended than soundly executed. Attempting to draw some kind of profound correlation to modern-day soldiers returning from war, Garner bookends the story with scenes in a military hospital. Recovering from shell shock, Knezevich (who happens to be reading the Homer book) dreams of going home to his own family (also played by Kincaid and Thompson).

Whether or not you swallow the force-fed topicality of it all, there’s no denying that much of what transpires in between is an absolute wonder to behold.

Theater review

“The Odyssey: A Journey Home”

Grade: B+

Through Oct. 31. 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays; 2 p.m. Saturday (Oct. 23). $15-$45. Conant Performing Arts Center at Oglethorpe University, 4484 Peachtree Road. 404-264-0020. gashakespeare.org .