PAD presents Naomi Iizuka’s ‘Anonymous’

Student production Oct. 9-12 is Homer’s 'Odyssey' as immigrant story

(From left) Trenton Ellis as Anon, Caroline Leffert as Belen and Elan Reisner as Strygal in “Anonymous,” Naomi Iizuka’s contemporary take on “The Odyssey” of Homer. (Credit: Joe Angeles/WUSTL Photo (5))

Noman is my name, Noman do they call me—my mother and my father, and all my comrades as well.

-From “The Odyssey” by Homer

Tired and hungry and far from home, cast adrift by angry powers, the hero escapes monsters, navigates hostile lands and struggles to reunite with beloved family.

In “Anonymous,” presented Oct. 9-12 by the Performing Arts Department (PAD) in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, playwright Naomi Iizuka pays sly homage to “The Odyssey” of Homer, reimagining a foundational work of Western literature through the lens of contemporary immigration.

“Anon is a young man who escapes his war-torn country only to be separated at sea from his mother, Nemasani,” said William Whitaker, professor of the practice in the PAD, who will direct the show in Edison Theatre.

“Anon washes up on the American shore and must make his way amidst the people who do not officially belong,” Whitaker said. “It’s an amazing, harrowing journey — and a powerful metaphor for the immigrant experience.”

Chelsea Whitaker as Nemasani and Zachary Schultz as Mr. Yuri Mackus.


Mythological proportions

Though “Anonymous” contains characters and events drawn from Homer, its themes and language are distinctly contemporary. The Cyclops becomes a butcher; the nymph Calypso becomes the debutante Calista; Nemasani, echoing Penelope, sews clothes and fends off unwanted suitors.

“ ‘Anonymous’ is inspired by ‘The Odyssey’ but it’s also specifically American,” Whitaker said. “There are sweatshops and highways and bartenders and surfers and garbage dumps.

“At the same time, Iizuka retains Homer’s mythological proportions,” Whitaker said. “The language often sounds like common speech, but there are moments of austere beauty and majesty. Near the opening, one character says ‘Where I come from, there are python and butterflies as big as your arms.’ It’s elegant and poetic — an opulent remembering of home.”

Helen Li as Naja and Trenton Ellis as Anon

Structured as a series of 25 vignettes. the play cumulatively becomes an epic voyage. Along the way, Anon — like Odysseus himself — discovers that identity can be a slippery thing.

“At one point, Anon is found in a dumpster and a young woman asks his name,” Whitaker said. “He spots a sign for an Indian restaurant and answers, ‘Curry.’ It’s Iizuka’s take on what its like to be illegal, to be hunted, to be not welcome — and what that does to your sense of self.

“The play is fascinating because it can be done in a lot of different ways,” Whitaker said. “Iizuka originally intended it for children, so it’s very funny, with a real sense of playfulness. But when you push a little, and put it before an adult audience, things quickly get weird.

“You see the good of America but also the dark underbelly,” Whitaker said. “It’s the classic hero’s journey.”

Mehrmah Haider as Nasreen and Trenton Ellis as Anon


Cast and crew

The cast of 16 is led by Trenton Ellis as Anon, Chelsea Whitaker as Nemasani and Helen Li as Naja, Anon’s supernatural guide.

Juliette Hourani is Calista. Cassie Roberts is Mr. Zyclo, the one-eyed sausage-maker; Elan Reisner and Hourani are his son and bird. Zachary Schultz is Mr. Yuri Mackus, Nemasani’s lecherous boss.

Mehrmah Haider plays Nasreen, a young woman who befriends Anon; Ryan Talk and McKenna Rogan are her parents, Ali and Ritu. Robert Kapeller and Katie Jeanneret are Senator and Helen Lauius. Jeanneret is also the bartender Serza. Daniel D. Hodges is Pascal.

Caroline Leffert and Jimmy Wang are Belen and her father, Ignacio. Rogan and Emma Quirk-Durben are a pair of sewing ladies. Rounding out the cast and playing a variety of additional roles are Kapeller, Jeanneret, Hourani and Talk.

Scenic and costume design are by Robert Mark Morgan, senior lecturer in drama, and Bonnie Kruger, professor of the practice in drama. Lighting and sound are by David Levitt and Jon Zielke.

Stage manager is Abby Mros. Props are by Anna Joo.

Juliette Hourani is Calista

Tickets

“Anonymous” begins at 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Oct. 9, 10 and 11; and at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 11 and 12.

Following the Oct. 10 performance, the PAD will host a Q&A with Naomi Iizuka. All events take place in Edison Theatre, located in the Mallinckrodt Center, 6465 Forsyth Blvd.

Tickets are $15, or $10 for students, seniors and Washington University faculty and staff, and are available through the Edison Theatre Box Office and online.

For more information, call 314-935-6543.