The mere notion of a feasible stage depiction of Homer’s epic poem “The Iliad,” his ancient Greek drama about the Trojan War (written circa the eighth century B.C.), may seem rather inconceivable to begin with — never mind a one-man version of it. But that’s just what co-adapters Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare have imagined with “An Iliad,” which marks Theatrical Outfit’s first live, in-person production since the COVID-19 shutdown some 18 months ago.
Besides providing an impressive vehicle for Atlanta actor Lee Osorio as The Poet, the undertaking also marks a most auspicious debut for incoming Outfit artistic director Matt Torney (not counting a streaming rendition of the one-woman show “A Hundred Words for Snow” that he did earlier this spring). Although “An Iliad” primarily involves a few final weeks in the 10-year Trojan conflict, the play generates a sweeping sense of the scale and scope of the “unrelenting strife” of the war, in general, that’s always palpable and often harrowing.
Still, the drama isn’t only about the battle between the Trojans and the Achaeans for control of Troy; it routinely alludes to other armed clashes and military disputes that span the centuries. When the Poet first walks on stage (a cluttered attic or theater storage room of a set designed by Lizz Horvath), he appears to be costumed (by Alan Yeong) in a World War I-era uniform — and wearing an all-too-familiar modern-day face mask. Later, a prop helmet for Achilles looks appropriate to its time, but one for Hector is more reminiscent of World War II or Vietnam (by properties designer Nick Battaglia).
Torney receives another especially atmospheric assist from lighting designer Ben Rawson in intricately transitioning from one moment to the next during Osorio’s ongoing oration. When, on occasions, the actor places Achilles’ helmet atop a floor lamp like some kind of a shade, note how Torney and Rawson cast shadows of the figure against the tattered white fabric along the back wall of the stage. Talk about a “ghost light”: the effect is at once haunting and stunning.
As conceived by Peterson and O’Hare, Osorio’s Poet also gets an assist from his very own Muse. Here, she takes the form of Deisha Oliver, who assumes an inconspicuous spot on one side of the stage to accompany him on cello. The original mood music is credited to local composers Mikaela Fraser and Rashaad Pierre, but it’s alternately useful and distracting in equal measure.
Osorio has the otherwise undeniably daunting task of delivering a practically endless barrage of complicated details about ancient history, inhabiting a wide array of different and vaguely interchangeable characters, while also managing to capture and hold the audience’s attention in a manner that keeps the play feeling relevant, even timely and personal.
Over the course of his roughly 100-minute narrative, at times it’s challenging for us to fully distinguish between the goings-on of mortals like Agamemnon and Priam, or Hecuba and Helen of Troy, let alone what’s happening in any given scene involving a few of the intervening Olympian gods who figure prominently in the grand scheme of things.
When Osorio dumps out sundry pairs of sandals and boots from an army duffel bag, though, lining them up across the stage to talk about the young men who died wearing them in combat, there can be no mistaking the human toll of war, whether from 3,000 years ago or yesterday. “An Iliad” might qualify as an epic tragedy, but for a comparatively modest solo show to express such an all-encompassing sentiment so beautifully and precisely is a true testament to the intimate power of live theater that we’ve had to do without for far too long.
THEATER REVIEW
“An Iliad”
Through Oct. 10. 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Fridays; 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays; 2:30 p.m. Sundays. $47.70 ($42.40 for senior citizens, $15.90 for students). Balzer Theater at Herren’s, 84 Luckie St. NW, Atlanta. 678-528-1500. www.theatricaloutfit.org.
Bottom line: By turns an epic historical drama and an intimate one-man show.
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