An Iliad

 Living in the suburban DC area, I am just SPOILED with opportunities. My home is about a mile north of the DC line and about a mile west of the University of Maryland. I have always availed myself of things to do in DC, but much less so at UMD. Which is crazy when you think about it. The university has this outstanding Performing Arts Center named after Clarice Smith--her husband has the business school named after him. The center has 5 theaters in it. I've been there a couple of times before, but whole years and more seem to pass between visits, and that's just wasting my advantage. I plan to do better.

Tonight I saw the one man show by Lisa Peterson called "An Iliad". Performed by Denis O'Hare. It's a retelling of the famous tale by a man who appears to be a timeless vagabond. It opens after the cacophonous sounds of a train arriving and departing a station then a flash of light and there he sits on a suitcase. 

The stage is set to look like a stage, but everything on it bears symbolism as the timeless story of war unfolds before us. Early on, the "bard" is joined in a theater box adjacent to the stage (and fate would have it right next to me) by a cellist who's acoustic accompaniment enhances the telling. He is referred to as the "muse".

It was a dynamic, nearly exhausting performance by one of the most gifted actors out there doing live theater like this today. I have been in awe of Denis since his Law & Order days when he performed amazing guest roles. Two in particular stand out to me: He was the schizophrenic law student who off his meds hacked 3 people in the vintage clothing store to death and ended up defending himself. He was the neighborhood priest who killed the drug dealer and used the defense that God told him to kill the man. Every appearance proved an iconic one.

The production blended soliloquies from the actual Greek and English translations of Homer's Iliad, with observations both historic and contemporary on the nature of war and man. The lighting was an integral part of the production so that there were times that he delivered his lines looking directly at me and I (along with other members of the audience) was clearly visible to him. Sitting in the front row staring up at him, I wanted more than anything for him to know just how much I admire his talents, and how grateful for the chance to experience his gift in person.

“Let me not then die ingloriously and without a struggle, but let me first do some great thing that shall be told among men hereafter.” 
― Homer, The Iliad