The story of the Trojan War is the story of almost any war, Sean Hargadon said.
“It keeps perpetuating itself,” he said. “I think it’s really interesting how throughout history, there’s never really any break in conflict. Not always in the West, but there’s conflict going on somewhere.”
“It is always something, whether it’s weapons of mass destruction, whether it’s slavery, whether it’s this or that. There’s always a reason, however slight or heavy that people engage in these conflicts,” Hargadon said. “I thought it was a story worth telling.”
That story will be told when Janus Theatre Company presents “An Iliad,” Feb. 19-28 at Elgin Art Showcase in Elgin. Performances are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and at 2 p.m. Sundays.
Written by Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare, the play first premiered in 2012 and has since played in regional theaters. The play is a retelling of Homer’s epic poem “The Iliad,” which recounts the Trojan War.
“It’s a play that’s very theatrical in the way it’s told, and that really intrigued me a lot,” Hargadon, who is directing the play, said. “It opens with a poet who is supposed to be a Homer-type character, who is dropped into the theater and destined to tell the story over and over again until there are no more wars and no more conflicts. That, of course, never happens.”
As heavy as it sounds, it’s actually quite theatrical and it moves very well, he said. “It’s been done a lot throughout the country, and something that’s been embraced by a lot of people,” Hargadon said.
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The cast features four actors — two men and two women — ranging in age from 23 to nearly 50. Those performing include Joe Cattoggio of Chicago, Hargadon, Lori Holm of Batavia and Ann Marie Nordby of Arlington Heights.
“I thought it would be interesting to see how the play is informed by people performing different sections of it,” said Hargadon, who lives in Elgin.
Originally written for a man, Hargadon wanted to see how the play would change if a woman performed a section of it, or a younger man.
“The idea being that when the play was originally written, the poet character is supposed to be the Homer type that kind of carries on the tradition. But through the history of ‘The Iliad’ and Homer, it’s debatable whether Homer actually existed.
“There were many ‘Homer types’ that told the story of ‘The Iliad’ for hundreds of years before it was written down,” Hargadon said. “So we’re kind of approaching the piece like these are different storytellers telling the story. Kind of like a Dr. Who type of thing, where you’ve got a new doctor regenerated. It adds some variety to it.”
Asked if there are any particular challenges to the show, Hargadon said the entire play is one big challenge.
“How do you take a story that’s a millennium old and make it relatable to today?” he said. “The playwrights have put it there so it can be, but it’s still a challenge.”
“The greatest challenge I find is telling a story with weight and trying to keep it light,” he said. “Because it does have a tremendous amount of humor in it, sarcasm, but it does draw you into some real dark themes. How do you navigate those and keep it light?”
In the beginning, there’s literally no technical support — just like a bard telling a story back in the day, he said.
“It’s lights on and nothing else. And you’re just with an audience, and it’s quite raw. For an actor, that’s a very naked experience. If you’re on stage, in normal circumstances, you don’t see the audience,” he said. “In this particular scenario, I can see them, they can see me, and there’s nothing there. You’re on your own. That’s a bit terrifying and exciting at the same time. And then the technical aspects slowly start to weave their way into the story of the play, and that’s a whole new element.”
The cast plans to do dry runs by having a few open rehearsals in front of audiences in different locations to see what works and what doesn’t before opening, he said.
“As an actor or director, the challenge is ‘how do you hold the audience’s attention?'” Hargadon said.
The show runs 90 minutes, without intermission.
“It’s one continuous build-up until the end,” Hargadon said. “While a lot of the play is very colloquial and very conversational, there’s quite a bit of it that’s completely emotional.
“It’s hard to walk away not feeling any impact in that story by the end of it,” he said.
Kathy Cichon is a freelance writer.
‘An Iliad’
When: Feb. 19-28
Where: Elgin Art Showcase, 164 Division St., 8th Floor, Elgin.
Tickets: $16
Information: janusplays.com/ http://janusplays.com/
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