'black odyssey boston'

The Front Porch Arts Collective’s first season of staged shows continues with black odyssey boston, a co-production with the Underground Railway Theater. Based on Homer’s epic tale about the solider Odysseus trying to sail home after the Trojan War, the drama reimagines the setting as contemporary America—torn by both war abroad and at home as black Americans navigate the stormy seas of centuries of racism. At the story’s center is Ulysses Lincoln, a Gulf War veteran, who is a pawn between the gods Great Daddy Deus and Great Grand Paw Sidin on his way back to his wife and son in Oakland after being deployed in Afghanistan. Blending Greek tales with African American oral history, this story explores the myth of America and what it feels like to fight for a country that might not want you. All aboard when black odyssey boston sails into Central Square Theater from April 25 to May 19.  / Nathan Tavares

Black Odyssey Boston Central Square Theater, 450 Mass. Ave., Cambridge (617-576-9278) centralsquaretheater.org. MBTA: Red Line to Central. April 25-May 19. $16-$60. See website for complete details. The Front Porch Arts Collective and Underground Railway Theater collaborate for this reimagining of the Odyssey about a Gulf War veteran battling trickster gods and twists of fate on his way home to his family. Directed by Benny Sato Ambush.

Photo: Nile Scott Studios