Anon(ymous), by Naomi Iizuka

Produced by ODURep, Directed by Katherine Hammond.

Naomi Iizuka re-imagines Homer's epic hero Odysseus as a displaced and wary young refugee grappling with fabulous, but contemporary, monsters in this epic tale of finding one's way home. When asked why she chose to leave her Odyssean character nameless—he's called Anon, and uses made-up names in his dread of being found out and deported—Iizuka said, "it...seemed like a very apt metaphor for what people have to do when they come to a new land. You change your name, or it's changed for you...you're faced with [changing] the core of your identity when you adapt...I was always intrigued by Odysseus' reunion with Penelope, and by the fact that she didn't recognize him. It was as if all the experiences he had had on his travels had transformed him so much that he was a different person...I think immigrants are transformed in huge, overwhelming ways by their experiences."

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