Fort Myers Florida Weekly

War: What is it good for? ‘An Illiad’ retold at Gulfshore Playhouse

ARTS COMMENTARY



Jeffrey Binder stars in “An Illiad.”

Jeffrey Binder stars in “An Illiad.”

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

— George Santayana

This is the one they’re all going to be talking about.

It’s a knockout play, one that socks you right in the gut. It is so singular, so striking, it’ll surely wind up on many “Best Of” lists at the end of season.

“An Illiad” is a modern retelling of that most ancient of tales: Homer’s story of vain, grasping humans and capricious, meddling Greek gods. Written by Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare, it’s based on Robert Fagles’ translation of “The Illiad.”

If the subject matter makes you think, “Ho hum,” or fear it’ll be too much like a dry lecture by an uninspired professor, you’re underestimating a couple things: the power of story and the magic of theater.

You’re also not taking into account the considerable acting skill of Jeffrey Binder, Gulfshore Playhouse associate artistic director, who gives a tour de force performance in the one-man show. He plays the Poet, a character who, like the Ancient Mariner, seems destined to travel about and tell stories of ancient battles until, finally, we learn from our mistakes and stop fighting wars.

COURTESY PHOTOS

COURTESY PHOTOS

Dressed casually in a long brown duster, button-down sweater vest and jeans (costume design by Jennifer Bronsted), he steps onstage through a pair of double wooden doors that seem to be an entryway into a castle or rampart. David L. Arsenault’s set also appears to be a type of amphitheater, with multiple levels of stone, some with moss growing on them. It’s impressive, but I do wonder what this play would have been like on a bare or almost-bare stage (which is how some other venues have staged it).

Though just one person, Mr. Binder fills the stage with various characters — soldiers, parents, wives, babies, gods — flowing back and forth between narrating and acting the story of the Trojan War.

He initially beseeches the muses to help him tell this tale once again. You get the impression that each time, it takes a little more out of him, because we dumb humans never seem to learn. We’re still as addicted to war as ever.

 

 

“Every time I sing a song, I hope it’s the last time,” he says. But it isn’t.

He explains that war is entertainment for the gods.

Early on, he talks about the hundreds of boats in the harbor, filled with young men. He names the boats and where they’re from and then, taking into account his audience, translates it into terms we’ll understand, listing, instead of ancient Greek cities and towns, places in the U.S., from Boise, Idaho, to Springfield, Ill. It’s a clever device that helps us relate to those fighting, that helps us identify with them, because we know these hometowns.

In another section as he describes a corpse-filled battlefield, he gives a little one- or two-line description of the deceased’s life, so he’s not just a dead body, but a person who had a name, family, interests, a life. We’re forced to see the deceased as individuals rather than just “the dead.”

 

 

The Poet narrates the Trojan War the way bards did for centuries, telling the tale and speaking directly to our hearts.

The story centers on Hector and Achilles, and at times it’s so bloody that it’s like hearing an episode of “Game of Thrones” described in horrifying detail.

Director Kristen Coury allows the telling to flow naturally, with peaks and valleys, suspense, and yes, even humor. Modern references to supermarkets, to road rage, to photographs, don’t seem jarring at all; they’re just things we know in our own lives that help us relate even more to what we’re hearing.

It’s a remarkable feat that “The Illiad” — even if this is just a section of it — could be transformed into a 100-minute, one-man play. Mr. Binder draws us in with his storytelling, making it seem extemporaneous, as if he’s just talking with us one-on-one.

“An Illiad” is not only about war, but about theater, about stories and telling our stories to each other.

By the time the Poet starts listing every single war we humans have ever been engaged in, I had tears running down my face, as the list went on and on and on.

“The gods have made a mess of things,” he says.

But we have, too.

“An Illiad” is such a masterful, compelling piece of theater you should be sure to catch Gulfshore Playhouse’s epic and contemporary production while you can.

‘An Illiad’

>> Who: Gulfshore Playhouse

>> When: Through Nov. 4

>> Where: The Norris Center, Naples

>> Cost: $60-$65

>> Info: 866-811-4111 or www.gulfshoreplayhouse.org

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