When Festival audiences experience Mary Zimmerman’s production of The Odyssey this summer, they will see many familiar veterans of the OSF acting company playing gods, goddesses, prophets, kings and even a Cyclops. But Christopher Donahue, the man occupying center stage as Odysseus, valiantly struggling to make his way home to Ithaca and his beloved Penelope, is a newcomer to the Festival’s acting corps.

Donahue is a soft-spoken, gentle bear of a man who slowly warms up over the course of an hour’s conversation (our interview took place two weeks into rehearsals in mid-April). He has the kind of reserved yet rock-solid mien you would want by your side as you travel on a perilous set of adventures home to Ithaca, or on a months-long trek around America in a Mary Zimmerman production. That journey is one that Donahue has made numerous times in Zimmerman productions such as Treasure Island, The Secret in the Wings, Akhnaten and The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (Donahue’s personal favorite, which he calls “an absolutely sublime ensemble show”).

Early days at Northwestern

Donahue and Zimmerman first crossed paths as students at Northwestern University in Chicago more than 30 years ago. Donahue’s college career was interrupted by forays into the burgeoning Chicago theatre scene, and he estimates it took about 10 years to finish his undergraduate degree.

Zimmerman has directed The Odyssey three times before OSF’s production. The first was a student production at Northwestern. “I think at the time of the first Odyssey, Mary was going for her PhD. It was 28 years ago, and in that first production, I played Zeus, the Cyclops and Laertes, Odysseus’s father. A year later, Lookingglass Theatre did the production, and I played Zeus and Laertes.” Ten years later, in 1999, a “full-on, slick production,” as Donahue describes it, was presented by the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, and Donahue took on the role of Odysseus for the first time.

“Seventeen years ago was the last time we were on this ship together,” observed Zimmerman at the Show Intro in early April. “When we started out, we had nothing, and the show was done with chairs and poles and some strips of cloth. As we moved through the professional world, we did gather a beautiful set, and now we find ourselves in the outdoors, and all of that is gone, and we’ve returned in a way to the simplicity of 25 years ago when we first did it.”

Donahue admits to some trepidation in taking on the role again 17 years later. “At first, I wasn’t sure which roles Mary had in mind for me. I thought it would be fun to play the Cyclops and Zeus, but then I learned that she wanted me to play Odysseus. At first, I thought I was a little long in the tooth for it. But the more I thought about it, the more excited I got. She told me that it would be hard to imagine anyone else playing the role.”

Thirty years of collaboration

As with the members of Zimmerman’s design team who collaborate with her on virtually every production she creates, Donahue is a valued longtime member of Zimmerman’s creative circle. He is tremendously grateful for the loyalty that she has shown to her team of actors and designers over the years. He estimates he has been involved with 15 different Zimmerman creations. “My friendship and association with Mary have taken me to extraordinary places that I probably wouldn’t have gone otherwise, Ashland being one of them. I’ve been on Broadway in Metamorphoses, in Shakespeare in the Park in Measure for Measure; I even entered the opera world briefly in her production of Philip Glass’s Akhnaten, playing the narrator. I have been riding Mary’s coattails for 30 years, and it’s been fantastic.”

Donahue’s interest in theatre was sparked in high school at the Phillips Academy Andover in Massachusetts. “I was interested in a ‘school play’ kind of way before that, but it turned into serious interest there. I did Shakespeare for the first time, and Lorca, and Pinter—and this was in high school! It sparked my interest in going to Northwestern, definitely.”

In addition to his work with Zimmerman in Chicago and all over the country, Donahue counts the Weston Playhouse in Vermont as one of his artistic homes. “It’s a small town, in the middle of nowhere in Vermont, and they do amazing things,” he says. “The largest building in town is the theatre. I’ve been back there about 7 or 8 times now, and I love it; it’s one of my favorite places.”

When Donahue is not out on the road with a show, a small carriage house apartment in Chicago is his home base, and Lookingglass Theatre is his home company, where he holds the title of artistic associate. “Chicago is a great theatre town, and for a big city, it’s very simple and satisfying to live there.”

Revisiting the journey to Ithaca

Coming back to Odysseus all these years later is potent for Donahue. “In my mid-30s I didn’t have the capacity to pay attention that I do now,” he says. “As life goes on and batters you a little bit more, and you are thrown from one vicissitude to another, I can approach it with this clarity and understanding that I absolutely did not have the first time around. And I’m incredibly optimistic and excited about where this production might wind up, with new faces and new eyes to look into as we tell this story. I’m so impressed with everyone in this cast.”

When looking back over his 30 years in theatre, Donahue mentions Shakespeare and “kitchen-sink drama” as two areas where he’d love to have more opportunities. “I usually play either monsters or sad kings,” he observes, sending his interviewer into a fit of laughter. “I’m not kidding! I’d love to play a regular guy with a family and a job.” As for Shakespeare, one of the things that excites him the most about being in Ashland is the opportunity to observe some master craftsmen at work in Shakespeare’s plays. “Honestly, I want to learn and watch the big boys play.”

When he is not hard at work trying to get home to Ithaca or searching for lost treasure, Donahue leads a self-described “almost monastic” life. “I bake a lot, as anyone in any cast I’ve been in will tell you. I’ve been plying The Odyssey cast with cake. I also draw, and revel in the view of the mountains here. When I’m home, I like to work in the garden.”

Sounds like the kind of simple life you imagine Odysseus wanting once he gets home to Ithaca.

The Odyssey runs at the Allen Elizabethan Theatre through October 14. Get your tickets here.