An Iliad

About

By Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare Based on Homer's Iliad, Translated by Robert Fagles Performed in English Director - Guy Roberts and Rebecca Greene Udden Composer - Patrick Neil Doyle Scenography - Markéta Trösterová-Fantová Costume Design - Eva Bellefeuille Light Designer - Přemysl Janda THE CAST Guy Roberts – The Poet Jessica Boone – Muse Fanette Ronjat - Muse WINNER 2018 HOUSTON THEATRE AWARDS (USA) WINNER - BEST ACTOR - GUY ROBERTS NOMINATED - BEST PRODUCTION NOMINATED 0 BEST COSTUMES - EVA BELLEFUEILLE NOMINATED - BEST SET NOMINATED - BEST LIGHTS Featuring virtuosic performances and original live music from an exciting composition by Patrick Neil Doyle, AN ILIAD is a tour-de-force evening based on Homer’s epic poem of love, battle, gods and honor explores humanity’s unshakable attraction to violence, destruction and chaos. Has anything really changed since the Trojan War? The war in Troy is over – and the Poet saw it all. Back from the frontlines in an empty theatre, The Poet, who is perhaps Homer himself, spins a tale of unquenchable rage, quarrelsome gods, and grieving widows. An Iliad weaves humanity's unshakable attraction to warfare with the music of the muses, capturing the contradictory conditions of glory and violence with spellbinding modernity. “Compact and powerful, Guy Roberts has a striking stage presence. He brings his own light, his eyes always alive, every gesture apt and true. He's so into the moment of a role you'd need an earthquake to shake him out of character. Accompanied by two Muses (Jessica Boone and Fanette Ronjat) who recite in ancient Greek and incant composer Patrick Neil Doyle's diaphanously mysterious music, Roberts leads us through the overwhelming physical and emotional toil of any war, anywhere. In great waves he amps up the violence, then pulls back for a quiet moment of reverie, then he's off again, rushing pell mell through the broken columns and dust-strewn ruins of Adam Thornton’s evocative setting. Sleeves rolled up, in soiled fatigues and combat boots, he looks newly arrived from Afghanistan. Wild eyed, he invokes the gods for he's got a story to tell us, the greatest war story ever. He peers into the distance, right at us, perhaps through us, and sees the great armada approaching the shore of Troy. We see the ships, too. When great Hector inevitably falls, we feel the spear strike, see the blood flow, the bones break. In his anguish and elation, the very rush of battle made flesh. With physicality to spare, Roberts plays the eternal soldier, the eternal victim, the eternal warrior. He embodies the glory, the vainglory, the cowardice, the courage, the taunts, the boasting, the homesickness, the camaraderie, the numbing violence. In a highly modulated performance, he climbs each peak and valley of warfare with stunning magnificence. He can growl and bluster, then purr and coo, or weep and wail. Roberts’ performance was the deepest, most committed, most truthful portrait this season.” -- Houston Press (Houston, TX USA) USA Premiere: 4 Janaury 2018 Czech Premiere: 24 January 2018 – Estates Theater