Review: ‘An Iliad’ examines fascination with war

It’s been a long time since I’ve digested Homer’s epic, “The Iliad.” High school, to be exact. And a play adaptation by Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare found me approaching Spring Green’s production with much reluctance and trepidation. I shouldn’t have worried; under the capable direction of John Langs, and with the incredible acting skills of Jim DeVita as the poet, this is a comprehensible and brilliant production.

Where was this play when I was slogging through Homer, trying to understand relationships, names and god hierarchies?

The production begins with haunting music as DeVita enters in suit and tie, carrying a professorial briefcase. He is resetting a classroom lecture hall – overturned chairs, scattered papers, a dusty blackboard, even a skeleton – cleverly designed by Brian Sidney Bembridge.

Through the words and actions of the poet (DeVita), we are given a recounting of the nine-year, horrific Trojan War. Surely you remember the one where glory and violence constantly contradicted each other, the Greeks winning one day and the Trojans the next? All supervised by the gods on high Mount Olympus, who are basically “sports fans” with the war as their only source of entertainment.

The poet tells us of Achilles and Hector (“a horror better told in a bar”), King Agamemnon (“the king who devours his people”) and Priam, king of Troy, who must recover his son Hector’s body. Of course, Briseis, Paris, Helen and Patroclus are given their mention in fame, but mostly as recourses to situations and motivations.

I can understand why the poet says at the end, drained and apologetically, “This is why I don’t do this.” The reality of countless losses with nothing to show for it but exhaustion and poverty and loneliness – the young men in 800 ships from farmlands and fishing villages is compared to our young men, modernized in comparison, from Miami to the flatlands of Texas.

And yet, playwrights Peterson and O’Hare in their adaptation of Robert Fagles’ translation of “The Iliad” somehow manage to incorporate humor in their work: the overhead projector use, comments about fashion, Hector’s 50 brothers and sisters, and the Paris and Helen enactments will make you chuckle.

Alicia Storin appears as the silent muse, punctuating the poet’s words with her cello music; the original music is the composition of Josh Schmidt. Storin, emotionless and straight of posture, is a gifted musician.

DeVita is truly magnificent as the poet. He has an astounding, flawless command of all the dialogue in “An Iliad.” He’s conversational, intuitive and particularly believable, especially with his stuttering eagerness to convey characters and scenes. He shrugs, sweats, stretches, emotes and captivates.

The magnitude of DeVita’s talents is incredible. Of his acting prowess, I’ve admired him primarily in American Players’ classical theater and Shakespeare productions; he’s been appearing and directing there since 1995, and is a member of the Core Acting Company.

DeVita is also an award-winning playwright (the recently reviewed “An Improbable Fiction”) and novelist (“A Winsome Murder”). Just watch him enact Achilles rebuffing and confronting Agamemnon or the “horrific blur of hungry as wolves” killing of Patroclus. Watch him interact with the audience as he names foreign locations (“that’s right, you don’t know any of these places”). How does DeVita do it?

The play runs one hour and 50 minutes with no intermission, and contains adult language and content.

Besides being an intriguing play, “An Iliad” brings home the absurdity and pain of war, as well as our fascination with it. There is a lot of subtlety involving current circumstances of our times, as well; the best and worst of humans come through in “An Iliad.” Will our definition of humanity and peace ever change?

• Regina Belt-Daniels has been involved with the theater in many capacities since the first grade. She serves on the It’s Showtime Advisory Board and RCLPC’s Theater Board. She currently is directing “I Hate Hamlet” for the Huntley Cosman Theater, and happily applauds the continued safe opening of theaters with live audiences.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: “An Iliad” by American Players Theatre

WHERE: APT’s Touchstone Theatre at Spring Green, Wisconsin

WHEN: Through Aug. 15

COST: $56 to $75; also available to stream

INFORMATION: americanplayers.org/plays/an-iliad