In Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare’s one-person show An Iliad, The Poet (an eternal being tasked with a passionate examination of the Trojan War) vividly brings to life the classic tale set down by Greek poet Homer. In the production meticulously directed by Julia Rodriguez-Elliot at Pasadena’s A Noise Within, the role is performed in alternating performances by Geoff Elliot and Deborah Strang. This reviewer witnessed Ms. Strang’s take on the character. The Poet, looking more like a street person than an Oxford Don, enters the darkened, empty stage through a roll-up door in the rear wall. She lights a candle and looks at the meager surroundings and props, before launching into her storytelling. Her audience soon realizes she does not need a cast of thousands or the weapons of mass destruction to tell her impassioned story.
Deborah Strang as The Poet (all photos by Eric Pargac)
She skips the first nine years of the War to concentrate on the personal conflicts involving the Greek’s strongest fighter Achilles and his Trojan counterpart Hector, son of King Priam and brother of wife-stealer Paris. After the leader of the Greek armies, King Agamemnon takes away Achilles’ Trojan prize, Briseis, Achilles refuses to fight. As a result, the Trojans start to take the upper hand in the battles. Achilles’’ companion in arms Patroclus begs Achilles to reconsider, but he won’t. Patroclus dresses in Achilles’ armor and for a while succeeds in routing the Trojans. But when the jealous god Apollo knocks off his helmet, Patroclus’ deception is discovered and eventually he is killed by Hector. Achilles is heartbroken and enraged and meets and defeats Hector, and mercilessly drags his dead opponent’s body behind his chariot around the walls of Troy for ten days. The Poet does not need to tell us the rest of the story; we know how it ends. She had a point to make and decidedly does just that. The Poet declaims a long list of wars from the Trojan conflict to today’s conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa, etc. It is a powerful indictment on men and how they never learn the lessons of the past.
In Strang’s emotional re-telling, the violence is vividly brought to life before your eyes. The audience hears her words and their imagination sees the images she invokes. It’s master storytelling, fervent and volatile, theatre at its finest. The battle scenes are evocatively imagined. Strang artfully plays all the various characters from the warriors Achilles and Hector to the kings Agamemnon and Priam, to the Trojan Women—Hecuba, Andromache and even the coquettish Helen. Rodriguez-Elliott’s direction keeps the action varied and exciting. Strang works up the fiery passion to bring the story zestfully to life. Karen Hall has composed a haunting score to serve as a counterpoint to the words and plays it artfully on her cello. Ken Booth’s lighting strongly sets the scene.
Deborah Strang and Karen Hall
The genius of Peterson & O’Hare’s script is the modern references they have The Poet weave into the ancient tale, making it very accessible to today’s audiences. This production of An Iliad is a great return to live performances after so many months of quiet.
www.anoisewithin.org