Tucson theater's production of 'An Iliad' shines a light on war, rage

War, rage and brilliance have stormed The Rogue Theatre stage.

The brilliance comes from Patty Gallagher, who takes us battle by battle, torture by torture, revenge by revenge through the Trojan War.

More brilliance: This adaptation of Homers’ “The Iliad” by Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare. And Jake Sorgen’s just-right compositions “An Iliad,” as this play is called, provides the war and rage. It has modern references, colloquial language and obvious parallels to what was then and what is now.

Gallagher is the poet. She narrates the tale of the war between the Greeks and the city of Troy. Playing her muse is Sorgen, whose music punctuates and underscores the tale pulled from Homer’s “Odyssey.”

Now, “Iliad” consists of 24 books. The playwrights knew that had to be boiled down so, working from a translation by Robert Fagles, this version concentrates on the furious exchange of words between the Greek leader Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles; the death of Patroclus, Achilles’ best friend, and the fierce, raging battle between Achilles and the Trojan hero Hector.

The stories are full of tension, revenge, ugly battles … you know, all the fascinating and gut-wrenching stuff “The Iliad” is full of.

Gallagher strolls on an empty stage. The poet is so tired of telling this tale, but she must.

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

Occasionally stopping to sip a bit of tequila — for if anything is needed to tell this gruesome, heartbreaking tale, it is liquid courage — she tells about the gathering of the armies outside the gates of Troy, the battles that ensued, the revenge that had to be exacted, the murder of children, the destruction of bodies, the mournful loss of husbands.

The poet struggles sometimes to remember, and clearly is beaten down by having to wander the world to tell the story over and over. Her muse, and that tequila, give her strength.

Gallagher and Sorgen, with only the use of her voice and his music, bring the nine-year war to vivid life. There is not a lagging moment, not even when the poet stands at the end of the stage and bemoans the state of humankind by listing off almost every war in history, starting with the Peloponnesian War and ending with Gaza. More than 100 of them, and it is an incomplete list. It is a sobering, devastating litany.

Cynthia Meier directed this compelling piece knowing that the simple staging will allow the complex piece to unfold the way it should.

Gallagher doesn’t pop up on The Rogue stages much this day. Our loss. Let’s hope that she finds her way here more often. And that The Rogue continues to bring us such compelling theater.

“An Iliad” continues through March 10 at The Rogue Theatre, 300 E. University in the Historic Y. Tickets are $47 at theroguetheatre.org or 520-551-2053. The play is about 90 minutes with no intermission.