THE ROGUE THEATER'S "AN ILIAD" CREATES A SENSE OF EVERYWAR WAGED BY EVERYMAN IN THE CENTURIES OF DEADLY VIOLENCE FOLLOWING THE NINE-YEAR TROJAN WAR

By Chuck Graham, TucsonStage.com

 

photo by Tim Fuller

Having a timeless presence, Patty Gallagher creates a soulful lament as The Poet in "An Iliad," beginning her tale with the Trojan War and continuing across the centuries with her plea to finally stop all wars.

Far more than a play, The Rogue Theatre's production of “An Iliad” performed by Patty Gallagher with pianist-composer Jake Sorgen is a complete theatrical experience.

Praise-worthy phrases pile up, the more you know the more amazing this feat becomes. Presented on basically an enormous bare stage, with Gallagher the only cast member and Sorgen providing all the musical accompaniment and aural atmosphere, your own imagination becomes the most active ingredient.

There are no costume changes, no sets, no special effects save the production of “An Iliad” itself, which becomes one very big special stage effect.

Unseen but always present in her handiwork is the compelling direction by Cynthia Meier, as the three artists cleverly conspire to create such a fulsome telling of the equally seductive and deadly qualities that are the eternal nature of war.

This particular retelling of the classic epic nine-year siege of Troy by the relentless Greeks begins with Robert Fagles' translation of Homer's epic poem.

Then Lisa Peterson and Denis O'Hare developed the idea of what this war that launched a thousand war ships would sound like if it were told in today's casual language which has turned the destructive powers of war into just another topic for the evening news.

In this plain-faced setting, those vaguely familiar Greek names – Achilles, Aphrodite, Agamemnon, Hector, Petroclus and others – pop up like road signs from a distant past. We recognize them without knowing exactly why.

Gallagher as the timeless Poet begins her 95-minute performance with the lament “Every time I sing this song, I hope it is the last time.”

Before she has finished, before she recites a shamefully lengthy list of all wars from the god-obsessed Trojans through the world's many civil wars and world wars – from the Greeks of old to the complete sadness of Gaza today, we are asked aren't all wars actually the same war?

If there is an Everyman representing all humanity, is there an Everywar representing all wars? Since that tumultuous beginning, haven't we been fighting the same war over and over again? Is there any difference among them? Dead bodies are added up like scores in a ball game. Really, is there any such thing as a Great War?

Gallagher throws herself into this maelstrom of questions, filling her tale with shaded changes of pace, levels of volume, a spinning kaleidoscope of war's clutches, her blue eyes blazing. To watch her and not be affected by her performance is impossible.

“An Iliad” continues through March 10, with performances Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m, matinees on Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m., in The Rogue Theatre, 300 E. University Blvd. Tickets are $47 general admission, $15 for students with ID (when seats are available).

For details and reservations, theroguetheatre.org, or phone 520-551-2053.