Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • An Illiad

    Uploaded by

    Ali Skye Bennet
    2K views48 pages
    Homer's classic

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Report this Document
    Homer's classic

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    2K views48 pages

    An Illiad

    Uploaded by

    Ali Skye Bennet
    Homer's classic

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    of 48
    AN ILIAD Lisa Peterson and Denis O'Hare Based on Homer's ad, ‘Translated by Robert Fagles Do not emy the violent or choose any of thei wos. sd naa nas sre poues —Boox oF Provenss 3:31 Usa Petaeon an Danie Ore waking a Sundar nt, ly 208. AUTHORS’ NOTE ‘Awork as monumental as Horners ads rt easy redcibiato one or ‘wo thames. To ay that ti bout te gary of wars at wrorg-heaces assaying htt inan anwar rack. Whan we stared gapping winthis ‘wor atemtng to form our own theatrical rare, we dd 30 using totic ona: the ns of pais —aurmed up by the id that warlea ate, and hous be erected and the ens of hunanm— the ido that human nature it wart, and cant be changed. We et ‘ese two terion bate out inthe person of ou raster and we tease our way though the ray chapters of Homer's gest work wth hee pees in mir. ‘As we developed An le, we began to understand that what We wor ser was, fac, very Siasnoned. Since our dese was to ‘9v8 an audence the sensation of bang present atthe very nventon ‘of i ple ston we found ourselves rearksring back to the arcs ot 6, ecalingcamotre masmerss, ghas-try puveyor, evan con: ‘men. Ou nator sone of a ong ine of vagabond, or paths he Is te ginal vagabond: @ man (or wamn) who eke out a iving by bogalng @ cow to stop, ten, ana imagine fra whe. ‘We bogan taking about perorning The liad not long ar the Une States inva rag in 2003. We wor btn thinking abou wa, dps about war—thikig that athe time, the bet hngatheatar st could do was to fina way tak about what meane o bea ‘county at war Most peopl thnk of The lad as en epic poem, nat ‘play. We ad both stud it 2 & work of Mestre, not apiece of ‘heeter—but the more we read abou the ancient ral tadton and Homo the re cenvnesd we became thet he staggering tl of he “ran War rally was spoken out ous and pasted fom store o storfele for certian before was ver wrten down. Wo began to imagine a character ealed Th Post: an ancnt tel of aes who nit sil ext inte universe, doered ta tthe sory of he Tan War ut the day wean huran nature changes, when our edition to rage comes to an end, when the teling ofa war story becomes enacassany A dy thathas yet come, of ouee ‘Wo imagine that our Poot raved across the wine dark seas wih ‘Agarermon and Acie andthe Grok amie. Tat ne cared hore ‘on the cose um or in yar wth the Grok solr that hed lay eye on Toy afl in ove with tht cute. That he hes roared tne wor telng the story of chiles end Hector and Hecube and Hermes anda te hundreds of other characters that inhabit Th ia. He has told th story for thousands of years, and in that te he has winessd (orth, imagines, he hs wnessed) evar war om the “jen War anwar. Hae found hal teach battle, never tench, at ey wa, inthe mess al, nthe inter, verte certis. He hes wanceres the scorched betofols and betiended—tnen fost srs nal corners of he wore history, wtnesing an recording everthing. Hes a compendium of wax ‘ie imagine tet on th parcus gt, our Poet fins hse transports to an empty sag, non of parlarauslenes, and he chooses ttl te story inthis way: a an inexorable olson between ‘wo great warrers—Actils and Hecter—and that on tis particular ‘ight he becomes infected wth raps himse, ng near oes himsat fratlecopi ating ofa wars eer ough. and hat on this hth ta to aut ling he sen but cant. We thnk hat est belvesin ‘he od gods, and that he ld gods won thm ut. Thay won't hi out fis trtling puget Heme ladbegins wth he Poetasking the msestoalp hin, and troughout he ope poem you can find hese oes, We dericed te make the Muse actualy appear, and tous that means that music rally ones the word ner the top of ou Pat Two. The incision of, ‘muse nts plce fe not ust nidortl vl par of the everings progres; we vew he mute a the char major charaterin hepa. ‘he McCarter and New York Theatre Worshep productions we used an etraordinary sting bats payer nar Brian Engsn to embody this Muze. The back-ardortncalogue between The Post ard the Musician was a rel duet, and we woud encourage other drectors to eter eense Marks Benets gorgeous sca, oto explo ung usin some other wy ‘We imagine there are many ways o approach tis ore. We've had he gost pleasure f seeing qui few raise actor taco the piece, and eucoded, Wo look oars to that communty of Pots expanding in every dreton; thar sno reason that The Poet could rat be femal, o ary race, or dtfrety-abed, or ovr 70 or under 30 We ink of Homer as lr of cot het enone wt the pssion an ‘he alent (and tho abit to merorc) he story could wear. Though ‘ne deftly vented th ply to be period by 8 lone gu, we recogrie that it eould be performed by more than ove person. and would encourage peop fd rer own way. We've been working on A as or nasty ton years, and over ‘tat tne the nekus of word conte has stad, of cours, When we stated, the US. he ust ive ag ody, at wari feiy ove, but ghanstan sil mies and around he globe naw cen nave made theseives known. For tha reason, we recogtze that a ao loca nthe script where, over tne, thee might red tobe it of ‘sjestmant in ote to stay curent. We've rote those places inthe _5Fo, wth quielins fr Keeping upto date, ‘nd nly wa fln ioe wh Robe Fagjles’s grou alton, ‘Tous it remain the most competing and playable English version of the poetry of The lad fe writan ney rs dacyie hexamer ‘very arent rom the abe ertamte that we're al used to Inthe Engl language teat: In this soret we have indnted the Fags verse t0 tof rom the rt ofthe text We highly recomend the Inroductons tat Fopes and is eor Bernard Krox have nla Inthe ful eons of Te ed, nd woud cain recone thet anyone ting on tis proj ce the ete Fags vanslton a the pic ‘An lad sata ou a an examination of war and mais tendency toward wari the end, eo bocare an examination ofthe hoster land the way which we a all eachother tre in orto ty to take sense of ouralves, and ou Benavir. Someone sated tng ‘he story of the Troan Wa, nl ly and devastation and supa, ‘over 8000 years ago. We pase or ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ‘ie ware counties very wise by numberof people ovr the yeas, 8 we worked on An iad, We wos ever have ha the ides wit ‘te vesdom of our end Morgan Jeness. Ard wo woud have par fect the Post vice without he eagle ee a ou cramatuy, Jan lee Paran Many harks to tham, and to Pifp Hirbarg, Crstopher Hibma andthe Sundance fai; Jey Mening andthe Seate Reo: try Theatr; Emiy Mann, Maa lssacs andthe McCarter Tester, Jim Neo Linda Chapman, andthe tam at NYT: Lyne Fagles Profetor James Tatum. Professor Opa Levarouk Hans Awe, and Staphen Spiel PERFORMANCES ‘0 Wl was deepen part wit asta ofthe Sundance Istite ‘ad was eigralypredicd by Sate apartry Tate ary Mang Presuing Atte Dect: Bajanin Moot, Managing Dect n Sette, Washinglon, opening on Al 9, 2010 M was dct by Lise Ptereo; ‘ho sot dolgn was by Rach! Hauck: he costume design was by Mara Dixy Jory he ghing design was by Soot Zink the orignal muse {nd sound cotgn were by Paul James Prendergast: he ste manager a Michael B. Pau ang the daatug was dance Paan. The roducton| fostured Hans Ais 9 The Post ‘An led wes produced at the MeCarter Theabe Conte (Emiy Mann ‘tise Detr Troy J Ses, Managing Drei Mara sacs, Procue- ng reson Prnceon New Jest, opening on Otober 28, 2010. was ected by Lisa Peterson; the set dosion was by scat Hauck he ‘cate design was by Mana Oraghic the tng design was by Sot Zane an he orga mae and sound delgn wore by Mark Beast {nd the production stage manager was Chery! Mint The production fet {ure Bran Elingsn a Te Musician ard Stephon Sina ao The Poet. ‘An iad was proce a Now York Tester Waris (ames, Nol, ‘rts Drecter, Wiliam Fuss, Managing Orel n New York iy, open lng on March 7, 2012 was tate by Lisa Peterson he Satan wae 2 Raph Hauck the oostme design wa by Maro rahi he hing ‘rom lb. The guy in ont of you ho cs yuo, yu cul am rim ith your, you don cara abou the eeu jst a hn! Ard you an 00 the chard metal and you can se the see the smoking hing AN ILIAD, and you can ane hear bag and you hope th a bag emotes him. ‘And titcoeen, yout get ut and yout go, "Yu faking ct Why cs you tokng cut me of?" AAAARRRRAGGGGGHHHH! (Vout into the bate) int ot spose ‘aris opponents chest sated pt bom raring te spunea ‘sua betwee hi eth so hard — old ragged the Trjan— ‘uy urstg his heer — mou ging — oped him down facets, oad he tel— (ose oer geting into te blots now) HaHa lunging n— fang a ook struck between hi yee crushed both bows, the sa caved in and both eyes Burst rom thr sockets (0¥¢ ret elms up ono table now, feverish swaying, shouting, out ofcontel-) PART FOUR NOTHING can hun Patrocs now, e's a Kling MACHINE, my 08 Polis ke someting superhuman Patel and his men— Hungry 68 wolves thal end an bol ew fos, sits ed win bate ronzy hat never is ‘hey gorge on tel a he Jows dp ed wth loo, beerng bloody meat, uth uy, rover shake, lds inside the chests hough tar git bones burst Ite @ BLUR OF KILLSI! One man—SLASHED! Anatte—GORED! ‘vother-HANMERED! Another~SPLINTERED!-SINEWS SHRED- DED!-BRONZE RIPPING!"SPLIT THE BELLY!-RAZOR SLICING! —Anotne--CUTTING AWAY THE TONGUE! One guyCRACKED ‘THROUGH THE BONY SOCKET! Then=WRENCHED THE WHOLE. ARM OUTH (re rer, panting now, has the Rage Fever hinel he can sep, ets wit-eyed and trashing, hes forgotenhimse caught up in tho blood ust) |MPALEDI (Urging hse on) More WHIPPED! (Uigng rman) More ‘STABBED (Uging his on} Hore ‘CHOPPED! ‘SNAPPEDH HEWED! SMASHED HacKEDN \WHOLE EARTH RAN HOT WiTH BLOOD BL000 81000. AN ILIAD ‘And RED DEATH AND IT FEELS GOOOODDIt (He suddenly stops himset panting. Ho looks outa us, desperate, test) (Oh god. (Gatoing is raat Im sory Fm gory tats ot Sometimes ust “Tete why don't the, Thee why don thi (Ata ong moment, ets to tnd is way back oh stone) ‘SoParocu ounce copie on cont nse cat areas usa ‘A the... nthe ide of aioe, he nave never quite uncerood what happened is oot fal of, some of his sor fale of he suddenly gee shoved oth ground ka eome massive {orc it hin, someting Hh. isha nt yay. The amor anyway. mean ho ‘ven pit ton he ha to stu ag in is hea ar rags ns hat to oep te ieg on nets emer if Aces‘ srmar. Ail has ko ‘our hrc pounds him, whatver ts ‘Se Patrocus, you know ae al the stggling, nas lst is heme, esos some of his amar mean tine ne, you know what some people si was that-—Apllo knocked of hun. Apolo was on Hec- 10° sie And hat poo, wort Ik his: s aRT FOUR (tee twine) ‘Came up bein hin ant wee (Click wink With is tte ger anc his helmet, “Ono (Knocking ofthe holm) And Apato kindof wort, (Exhale) ‘And hess broke on he bres, Ard lot ‘And so Patol tan up and goes, (nl) Totaly expose Andou of nowhere comes the Data, Quy... 8 aby never ought betel Sy of ing. ne very ery wo, ya now, runang und, | irk he has il nine peopl so a, e's rocked fhe chafit res of el—uh—things. Takes Ne epee ae oraly happens tobe behind Paros and jut kof go, "Ua (Wakes spearrsing geste) ‘lghiorough him. And Pavocs, ke he doar even felt at kd ot 088 (Turing back)... end ses ths his Daan The Darden koe is soar (Pung soar out pute back cut,and as ay, ‘hon, Parcs to end of le came blazing up blo you Hector Hector oes Actes armor and Hestor makes his move, He comes running at him to, dont nowhow ar away, bute gets ahead ‘of steam, Comes runing a im, uning et him, running at him. He lakes nie spear an, now dd Werk? What we says hat wert up hie bowels ane ne brazen point wert utrg svalght out trough Patol’ back. Pods crashes tothe gun, And then Hecer bogs o RAGE: HEcTOR Pavorus— sry you must have thought you'd storm my cy down, you's wrest rom the wives of Try hk day of reader, ‘you oo The vate wil et your Body aw! Natforal ts power cous Ati save you now fd ow ha must have filed your es wah ors youraria, you obeyed? | POET And then Pavodus—holing Nis body together wih his hands—Patoclus oxo Hoc you want ve og youre sea ‘Ateay se ham boing up basice you~ doxth and te song oreo fa, 6 rng you own — POET (Asinple tinea rival) ‘Dean eu en ston The end coed in around him | ying oo of hi nbs ie soul went winging downto the House of Death Bt Hector cam stop yoling at Pavers, even hough hes dead HECTOR Youthirk ou krow my fee?7 Why shou fea Death? No. Deaths on my side. Hes my bother. And tgeter we wi dev stat you, we wll murder at Greeks Win nat planed hoot agaist Patocis' chest, wronched is brazen spear rom the wound, Kicked him ove, at on i ack — ‘A then no tars tho roto Ahils'armar ot he deed body, sav gy, awkwardly, eying eu ike an snes Hector is. a good guy an Ronoable man, ut st hat moment— wet (im some shame about his own itcton) Yee. That's how hap ons We hk of crsoWes: ot me, Im nt ke tat, ma peaceta— ‘ut thappans anys, sre ik nour lod and— (A ere whisper)—reg0 Do you (He pous he esto he bat tothe oles, gus down) PART FIVE | ACHILLES' NEW SHIELD ‘Denis Hae, NYT, 2012, Poet ‘black cloud of et cae srouting over Ailes Cverpowered In ali power, sprawed inthe dst, Aches suds loosed atria, wrenching oy os his noble mther ness Kim Heroic what Actiles says to his mathe: ACHILLES Ho's caad, A | ent nim out ter. should have bse ma, Wht 0 do now? ony site cous dla om the nes of gods and men and anger tat dvs the sant mano fae in trae ‘ter ga, ewostr han eippng soa of honey, {hat swarme in poops chests an ind ike enko— Iustike the anger Agamemnon king of mon Enough Let bygones be bygones. Done i cone Now igo and moet rat murderer hasd-o, that Hector who destroyed the cares fe hoo ANILIAD, CTHETIS Wat—youhave no amor Hector wears your ame now. Sith, wa POET Hes motherrunto Hephaestus, the ciple goat re and le hen to make new orf Ail, Hephassisfcks his han and pods swing to pce. He Waves hie hand again end twenty belows begin pumping and blowing on ‘the fos and the coals stato glow white hot. Agtin and agen he waves hands anc, ron, gl, slver fy through he a lag Ing ito ulrens, to Be meted down fr Achlls a breastplate, ree for tis ege, helmet mice of benze ar shield —tbe mst magnificent il ve ever sean Hephaostus gins to fashion an Immense ofa shi as big ata room-—wit the river ofthe Ocean Cecting he puts the earth, thes, the ooeans, the sun the on, the sas, He hammers out to ets on shen oe thera Is wedang taking lace, a bride led down ailock pas tres to her nervous grooms ety atpoace. The other ty @waled cy fd outdo a sage ging nwo emia cash by avec He fashions a file, large with furows and he shows the horses ting back and fort an the farmers being reese wih large cups of ioe an haney—2 fame ging homehis cate anda attacks ‘one ofthe bul, ana backbood pools on the bttom ofthe shia boy ssving a ye—earbreskng musie~aseng ofthe cheg cay—a ice of boys and ils dancing, wth a coud gathered wound p= ina, nga, ughing Ts is Ahi’ new shld ant gee with haba ret = It-tewent so fat was a you woroyou were YoU Were fa ut a 4, you ko, sor when hey have to lok out ate shore are by ‘ind hel bearngs and hey lok fora ight nd youve ighthouses PART FIVE no—but the, sorties, wo woudhave ke a—one guyana moun tal, hardinghis sheep ad pe would have every song i, you know, toby to...koep be sls slo af, An... andthe way out 29, onc eg ear comes ying out. Tals ow Acs’ hie looked rom alstancs 1 jut bouned the ghtbeck, st way ot that. (A great wna ck up, an quiely grows) PART six HECTOR'S DEATH ‘ren Engen, Pern Festa, Aral, 2044, Por Actes. dashed toward he cy, hartracng rusting on Me acharpon salon craig achat a ‘seeing aos ho pan in e88, owing ses 50 Acilosnurtedon ving 9s and knees ‘And Hector wa fet to 2 him coming, ‘ging over he plan, bang he a tr ‘And | dont have to tl you, 60 1?—Tha tae has tured, ofcourse, bocauso Aches is back nthe game. The Greek are wining, ain,

    You might also like