THEATER FEATURE: Playhouse's 'An Iliad' brings together ancient and modern wars


In ancient Greece, the story of "The Iliad" ---- Homer's 15,000-line epic poem on the 10-year Trojan War ---- was spread not by written text but by "singers," men who traveled from town to town with a musician and delivered the tale in what scholars describe as a rhythmic mix of memorized verse and improvisation.

Three thousand years later, "An Iliad" is about to make its debut at La Jolla Playhouse and its director and co-adapter said the 100-minute play blends both the ancient and the new in a poetic reflection on another decade-long war much closer to home.

Co-adapted by Lisa Peterson (director of "Be Aggressive" and "Surf Report" at the Playhouse) and Denis O'Hare (a Tony-winning actor from Broadway's "Take Me Out") from a translation of "The Iliad" by Robert Fagles, "An Iliad" combines the great characters, mythology and history of the Trojan War with riffs on America's own long-entrenched wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

As in ancient times, "An Iliad" is told by one man, accompanied by a musician ---- a centuries-old storyteller who is desperate to impart both the glories and the devastating costs of war to his audience before he and his battered suitcase move on to the next audience.

Peterson talked about "An Iliad," which opens in previews Aug. 11, during a telephone interview last week.

Question: How did you and Denis come up with the idea of using the Trojan War to reflect on our own wars in the Middle East?

Answer : Three things converged. In about 2003, I started thinking we should be talking about what it means to be a nation at war, and when I talked to a very smart dramaturgical friend of mine on the topic, she said she always starts with 'The Iliad' ... At the same time I had this notion about doing something like a Spalding Gray monologue but as an adaptation of an ancient text. Then I brought this to Denis. I'm a huge fan of his and he's a very political person with a lot of opinions so we had this idea of improvising a new version of 'The Iliad.' We went through 'The Iliad' book by book and we videotaped ourselves improvising on it out loud ... We had some wonderful interns transcribe those improvisations over the years along with Fagles' adaptation and eventually it became something more familiar as a play.

Q: How did you boil a 15,000-line poem down into a 100-minute play?

A : It became clear that we should think of it as a conflict between two primary characters ---- Achilles and Hector ---- so we pulled out everything that didn't involve them. Once we trimmed it down to the bones of these two men and their encounter, we could shape it after that. The poem begins with Achilles and it ends with Hector's funeral, so it's about these two trains running at each other.

Q: You and Denis have very different ideas about war. How did these viewpoints make their way into the play?

A : Denis has very strong feelings that war is a waste. I'm more curious. I don't think it's possible for us to ever stop fighting. He's got more political opinions and I'm a clinician. 'The Iliad' is about the way we feed off our own rage and can become addicted to it. It becomes our lifeblood.

Q: I'm guessing, then, that you found Achilles (the great Greek warrior) more interesting and Denis prefers Hector (the Trojan defender who didn't want to fight).

A: We had these fun-loving arguments about who is more interesting. I always loved Hector, but he's not as interesting as Achilles. But we love them both and they had very different reasons for fighting. Hector is defending his home and protecting those he loves. Achilles is almost a mercenary. He's fighting for glory and everlasting fame.

Q: How did you weave in the contemporary history?

 A : In "The Iliad" there are lots of lists, like the book that lists the ships and all the places these men sailed from to get to Troy. Back in ancient times, this list of places meant something to the listener. So to connect with today's audience, our poet pulls names from the ether of places in the United States that the audience will recognize. Denis also had this idea of listing every conflict in history starting with the Trojan War up until now. It becomes the climax of the evening and it is a very long list. The poet has witnessed every one of these wars and he's very moved by what he's seen. When we were doing our research we found that when you add up all the years of war, there are only 11 years in human history where man was not at war.

Q: Tell me about Henry Woronicz, who plays the Poet in this production.

A: I would describe Henry as a West Coast classical actor. He ran the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for five yeas and has been teaching in Indiana looking for an opportunity to get back to the West Coast. He's got some age on him, which is perfect, yet he still has a heroic quality to him. He makes a wonderful Achilles and Hector and he's charming, smart and very fit. La Jolla audiences will get a vivid performance.