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Odysseus

An epic story about a man’s voyage toward himself, against himself, and beyond himself.

Odysseus

Type: Interactive, Generative, Mapping, Stage
Location: Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Producer: Drama Theatre Plovdiv
Premiere: 27 and 28 February 2019
Playwright: Alexander Sekulov
Director: Diana Dobreva
Scenography and Costume Design: Mira Kalanova
Interactive Projection Design: Petko Tanchev
Composer: Petya Dimanova
Photographer: Alexander Bogdan Thompson

The play Odysseus tells the story of a man’s voyage toward himself, against himself, and beyond himself. The boy who once sailed to Troy carries youth like a golden sheen upon his name. The man who returns to his island home has learned the wrath of the gods and the weight of traveling against time. Yet Ithaca is not the final harbor for one fated to be a hero. A prophecy drives him toward a last journey, past the boundaries of the known. On the shore stands Penelope—a woman who has mastered the art of enduring absence, giving love the only gift it truly deserves: eternity. So the journey may continue.

Plovdiv Award in the Theatre category for a performance

Plovdiv Award for Alexander Sekulov for the play Odysseus

Icarus Award for Masterful Technical Implementation

Grand Prix Award for Best Performance – International Theatre Festival Stobi

Grand Prix Award for Directing – International Theatre Festival Stobi

Myth and Code

A custom motion tracking system was developed for Odysseus, transforming the stage into a reactive instrument. Shifting textures extended the performers’ presence, weaving abstract forms that pulsed in rhythm with the action. Through the union of technical precision and artistic intent, the stage became a living, generative space—alive to every gesture.

Gallery

Choreography of Space

The projection design functions as a dramaturgical tool rather than a decorative layer. Abstract forms, generated in real time, respond to the actors’ physicality—mirroring moments of struggle, revelation, and change. This approach expands the directorial vision into an interactive mise-en-scène—one that adapts moment by moment, allowing the visual language to echo the pulse of the narrative. Technology acts as a storyteller in its own right, carrying the audience deeper into the myth’s timeless currents.

Stage That Breathes

Imaginary Space

Created for the Drama Theatre—Plovdiv as part of Plovdiv – European Capital of Culture 2019, Odysseus reimagines Homer’s epic as an immersive visual journey. The inclined stage floor becomes a dynamic terrain—alive with light, texture, and motion—merging scenography, live performance, and responsive media into a unified experience.

The visual environment complements but remains distinct from the set and lighting. Instead of illustrating the story literally, it translates the play’s metaphysical currents—longing, confrontation, transformation—into symbolic imagery. Each sequence forms a parallel stage, interpreting the dramaturgy and actors’ movements in an abstract, poetic language.

Real-time Kinect data in TouchDesigner

A Living Partner on Stage

At the project’s core is a custom motion tracking system developed for the production. Two overhead Kinect sensors capture performers’ positions and gestures, sending real-time data to a TouchDesigner media server. Compositions of GLSL shaders, particle systems, and 3D objects transform movement into responsive visuals precisely mapped onto the sloped stage. Actors’ silhouettes dissolve into rippling textures or bloom into swarms of light, with floor patterns shifting from sharp bursts to soft cascades in tune with the drama.

Expanding the Language of Theatre

The system’s responsiveness allows the visuals to inhabit the same temporal flow as the performers, creating a sense of shared breath between human and machine. By fusing mythic storytelling with generative media, the production invites the audience into an imaginative space where the boundaries of the stage dissolve and the journey continues beyond the final scene.

For more information about the performance, visit the theatre’s website here.