My overall impression
You know how a lot of horror films like to put an innocent piece of activity, say a music box or a child singing, and put that against horrible events and imagery to give a feeling of dread and uncertainty? Odessa made me feel like that the whole time, while still finding moments of laughter and genuine joy.
Post apocalyptic stuff always makes me wary since everyone always seems to go in the same direction with that sort of thing, but Odessa does a good job of establishing a viewpoint and a world while still preserving a sense of horrible mystery that lasts all the way to its logical, maybe hopeful, maybe sickening ending.
Don’t want to give too much away since the show is all about being shoved gently but relentlessly down a hall of mirrors following a nonlinear path that just gets more and more engulfing until you finally get to breath, which is when you realize the play is over.
Congratulations to the Illyrian Players on a fantastic show.
