Writing |
Tom Bentley-Fisher |
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| Iliad Project |
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The Iliad Project | ||
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Ilíada This play was originally produced by Q-Ars Teatre in its Catalan version in Barcelona, in July and August 2009. Directed by Tom Bentley-Fisher Dramaturgy by Tom Bentley-Fisher and Elisabet Ràfols Catalan translation by Anna Casassas Cast: Mercè Anglès, Mercè Arànega, Anna Güell, Àngels Sánchez, Mar Ulldemolins Assistant director: Joan Mª Segura Set and costume design: Montse Amenós Sound design: Bárbara Granados Lighting: Sylvia Kuchinow Graphic design: Albert Villaplana Photography: Ramon Anglès Executive production: Cristina Raventós Production assistant: Gonzalo Mascheroni Costume production: Goretti In coproduction with Festival de Barcelona “GREC”, CAET (Centre d’arts escèniques de Terrassa) and CAER (Centre d’arts escèniques de Reus), and in collaboration with Biblioteca de Catalunya, Sala Muntaner, Tant per Tant, and Bodega Maset del Lleó and Sal Costa. Contact: Tant per Tant Theatre in Translation Inc. 512 – Ninth Street E. Saskatoon, SK S7N 0B1 Phone: 306 652 4289 email: info@tantpertant.ca |
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The process of this play is about trying to piece together the clues of a great puzzle. The story is not just about relating the events from The Iliad; it is about discovering the voices from The Iliad. It is an investigation by five women as they seek an understanding, an opening perhaps, that might take them to a new comprehension of not only this war, but of all wars. The events from The Iliad were first recounted almost three thousand years ago and have continued to be one of the most famous war stories in history. This theatre version of the story is based on one of the more recent adaptations of The Iliad as interpreted by Alessandro Baricco. For ten years the Achaeans set siege to the city of Troy after Paris stole the beautiful Helen from her husband Menelaus. The Iliad relates to the last year of the war and begins when the great Achaean warrior Achilles refuses to continue fighting after an argument with Agamemnon, who demands the possession of Achilles’ prized concubine Briseis. This leads to the bloodiest period of the war and only ends when Achilles returns to battle the great Trojan hero, Hector. We ask the question: Is there something in a story that has been told for generations that can help us understand the current violence in the world? |
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ILIAD PROLOGUE |
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The audience enters hearing the names of the dead. This is a list directly from The Iliad.
The tone and descriptions change later but initially are heard as a monotone, as if all
that is important is the recording of the names, like sewing onto a quilt or writing on a
wall. Later, when the descriptions of death are included the names take on a kind of
beauty. Even if we don’t hear the names throughout the entire play we sense them, as if they must never stop, and we engage as if we are also responsible for the process of recording the list. If we get to the end of the names of the dead men, we go back to the beginning. These names are exactly as written by Baricco, in the same order, sometimes including rank and the detailed description of death, sometimes left stark and bare. The list goes on forever, long past the end of this play. At times the women will continue saying the names. Perhaps we will see the names above their own bodies. … Echepolus … Elephenor, leader of the bold Abantes … Simoisius, the young son of Anthemion … Leucus, companion of Odysseus … Damocoon, a bastard son of Priam … Diores, the son of Amarynceus … The names fade as five women rise from beneath a great expanse of white sand. They discover a vast desert. They discover fear and a hint of violence filling the landscape. They begin to see each other, all isolated on distant stretches of sand. In spite of their terror they move across the desert, drawn towards an emerging hint of voices that may be coming from the sky or from beneath the sand. Two women dig into the earth. Another carries the sky in her hands. Another walks toward a distant rock cliff. They move across the desert. There is the weightless sound of a single note |
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Woman one discovers the beginning of the story coming from beneath the surface of a
rock cliff. She places her hand on the rock. Woman One: It all began on a day of violence. The other women come and place their hands also on the rock. The women hear the violent cry of a child coming from above. They are afraid and run from the cliff. It is as if a male child has been born and is ripping a hole in the sky. The women begin to hear the names of the dead drawing them to the centre of the desert, drawing them into The Iliad. Throughout the following scene the women discover the words of the past coming to them through the desert and air, their bodies being moved without conscious volition. There is the suggestion of women being paraded as property. The words enter their bodies, sometimes coming from beneath the desert floor and reaching into their legs, at other times reaching into their throats and possessing their mouths. Woman Four: For nine years the Achaeans besieged Troy. Woman Two: Often they needed provisions or animals or women, Woman Five: and went to get what they wanted by plundering the nearby cities. Woman One: That day it was the turn of Thebes … Woman Three (as through the voice of Chryseis): my city. I was among the women they carried off. I was a beauty. Agamemnon saw me and wanted me for himself. He brought me to his bed. Woman Five: He had a wife, at home, called Clytemnestra. He loved her. Woman Three: But that day he saw me and wanted me for himself. There is a faint sound of drumming. Woman Three (Chryseis): Some days afterward my father came to the camp. He brought splendid gifts and asked the Achaeans to set me free. All the Achaean chiefs were in favor of honoring the noble figure. Only Agamemnon was not won over. The women stop as they feel the voices of Agamemnon coming into them from beneath the desert floor. Woman Two: Go away, old man. |
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Woman One: I will not give up your daughter. Woman Five: She will grow old in Argos, Woman Four: sharing my bed. Woman Two: Go now, if you want to go with your life. * More than one woman can portray the same male character. The portrayal is not meant to be literal. Woman Three (Chryseis): My father, frightened, obeyed. He went away in silence and disappeared along the shore of the sea – you might have said into the sound of the sea. There is a tremendous sound of power. The violence that erupts from the five women is much more violent than what we would expect from men. The movement is frantic, as if they are drowning and fighting for breath, captured by the waves of a sea. Woman Two: Then suddenly, death and suffering fell upon the Achaeans. Woman One: For nine days, arrows flew, Woman Five: killing men and beasts, Woman Four: and the pyres of the dead blazed without respite. Woman Three: On the tenth day, Achilles summoned the army Woman One: and said, “Let’s consult a seer, Women Two and Four: who can free us from this scourge.” Woman One: Then Calchas rose, the most famous of the seers. Woman Four (as the seer, still above the noise of the chaos): There is only one way to rid ourselves of it: restore to the father that girl with the sparkling eyes. They collapse. They dig for the voices in the sand. Woman Three: Agamemnon rose, his heart brimming with black fury and his eyes flashing fire. Woman Two: Prophet of doom. I will do so, because I want the army to be saved. But … Woman Five: … it is not right that I alone should remain without honor. I want another prize. Woman Three: Then Achilles said. Woman Four (as Achilles): How can we find you a prize, Agamemnon? Woman One: Give back the girl and we’ll repay you when we capture Ilium. Woman Two (as Agamemnon): No, I will give back that girl and then I’ll come and take what I like. Women Five: Maybe I’ll take something from you. Woman Three (Chryseis): Achilles looked at him with hatred. Woman Four: (as Achilles): “You insolent, greedy man. You threaten to take away the prize I fought for? No. It’s better that I return home rather than stay to be dishonored, fighting to win treasure and riches for you. Women Two (as Agamemnon): Go. I am not afraid of your anger. I will send Chryseis back to her father, but then I’ll come to your tent and take for myself the beautiful Briseis, your prize. Woman Three (Chryseis): Thus he spoke. And it was as if he had struck Achilles a blow to the heart. Each woman joins another until all five are speaking as the voice of Achilles. The Women: I swear on this scepter that the day will come when the Achaeans will long for me/ when they are dropping under Hector’s assault/and you will be able to do nothing/ You will only remember the day you insulted the best of the Achaeans, and go mad with rage and remorse. /That day will come Agamemnon. I swear it. Woman Three (Chryseis):Thus he spoke, and hurled the gold-studded scepter to the ground. The women understand the implication of Achilles’ decision. During the following dialogue the woman exchange position as if they are part of a predetermined dance, perhaps like walking a maze, or blindfolded animals being disorientated as they are taken to slaughter. The drumming resumes. The pace increases. Woman Three (Chryseis):When the assembly broke up, Agamemnon ordered one of his ships brought down to the sea. Then he came to me, took me by the hand, and led me to the ship. Woman One: When he saw the ship disappear he called two men and ordered them to go to the tent of Achilles, to take Briseis and lead her away. Woman Five: The two soldiers found Achilles sitting beside his tent and his black ship. They were frightened and in awe. Women Four (as Achilles): Come. You’re not at fault in all this – Agamemnon is. Don’t be afraid. Woman Five: The men set off, retracing their path beside the swift ships of the Achaeans, drawn up on the beach. Woman Two: Behind them walked beautiful Briseis. Woman One: Reluctantly she went … Woman Five: … reluctant. Woman Three: Achilles watched them go. Woman Two: And then he went and sat alone on the shore of the white-foaming sea, and burst into tear. He was the lord of the war and the terror of every Trojan. But he burst into tears and like a child began calling his mother. Woman Five: His mother. Woman Three: From far away she came, and appeared to him. Woman One: His mother. Woman Three: She called him by name. Woman Five: My son, why did I bring you into the world? Your life will be short enough. If only you could spend it without tears and without sorrow. Woman Two: Without tears... Woman Three: Without sorrow… Woman Four: Can you save me, Mother? Woman One: But the mother said only … The women try to pull free from the movement that has tied them into a knot. They struggle. Their anger is sustained and direct, their movement targeted and full of hatred. The phrases “Hold on. Hold on.” and “Don’t yield. Don’t yield.” are each repeated by two women to the end of the text. |
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Woman Five (with the rage and cruelty of the
mother): Listen to me: stay here, near the ships, and don’t go into battle. Hold on to your anger against the Achaeans, and don’t
yield to your desire for war. Don’t yield. Don’t yield. One day they will offer you shining
gifts, and they’ll give you three times as many, for the insult you received. |
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| Tom Bentley-Fisher – All rights reserved | |||
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| ©2010 Tom Bentley-Fisher |
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