Review: ‘An Iliad' is back at Court Theatre, reminding us war never goes away

Chicago Tribune

19-06-2025

My personal history reviewing 'An Iliad,' the contemporary vernacular take on the Homeric epic penned by Lisa Peterson and Denis O'Hare, has become my reminder of the ubiquitousness of war and human suffering.
If you know the 90-minute piece, as extraordinarily performed at Chicago's Court Theatre by Timothy Edward Kane under the direction of Charles Newell, you'll know that its signature moment comes when The Poet, the one and only character, recounts at breathtaking speed a greatest-hits list of all the human conflicts since antiquity, the writers having left instruction in their script that this section should be kept up to date.
The conceit here is that although The Poet is telling Homer's story of the final weeks of the brutal 10-year siege of Troy at the hands of a coalition of Greek city-states, and himself comes from that era, he also knows modern life. More simply put, he's like the Ghost of Wars Past, coming to warn those who fail to learn from prior human experience. You will not be surprised to know it remains a Sisyphean task.
When I first reviewed this show, with this same actor, in 2011, the final word out of The Poet's lips was 'Afghanistan.' Court staged 'An Iliad' again in 2013. That time, it was 'Libya.' Wednesday night on the campus of the University of Chicago, it was 'Gaza.'
I picked up my pen to note that maybe The Poet was falling fast behind. Especially by the time you read this, the final word probably should be 'Iran.' Maybe they will make that change.
The other difference, of course, is the age of the actor playing The Poet; it has, after all, been 12 years. I haven't asked, but I'd imagine that Kane thought twice before he came back to this character; the actor is deeper into parenting now, and it seemed to me that the recounting of the human price of war was born this time more intensely of personal experience. But that might be in my head; it has been 12 years for me, too.
And it could well be that Kane has come to terms with this being a career-defining role (he was widely acclaimed the first two times and the third time around is even better) and one that can be accessed at various points in his life. There was a discernible gulp from the actor as The Poet came up from wherever he lives between shows, but then Kane roared his way through the entire show. This time, I was struck by how well he caught the gestalt of the aging warrior back from an agonizing war, finding the clarity of thought that comes only with age and experience while still embodying the grunting, macho ethos that caused all of this chaos in the first place.
Newell's staging, of course, has always had much to do with Kane's success, as has Todd Rosenthal's timeless scenic design. I'd probably say this was the career-defining piece for Newell, Court Theatre's former artistic director, too, although it has formidable competition within that particular career in artistic Chicago.
What matters most here, and what makes this show a candidate for the best solo show in Chicago theater history, is that the telling comes at great cost to the teller. In most single-character monologues, the actor merely tells the story. But the point of this inspired take on Homer's 'The Iliad' (the Robert Fagles translation was the basis) is that the very act of recounting the story is so fraught, it competes with the drama of the war narrative itself. And the further point is that every telling gets harder, because it is a reminder of how humans refuse to learn. But The Poet sees it as a moral imperative. And a curse.
I've no idea if The Poet will be coming back in future years to lament the latest wars and count once again the cost of armed conflict, be it ancient or modern, in sons, daughters, fathers, mothers. So I'd catch him now, just in case. But if he does, I don't doubt for a second there will be a fresh end to that inglorious list of glories.
Review: 'An Iliad' (4 stars)
When: Through June 29
Where: Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave.
Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Tickets: $100-$125 at 773-753-4472 and courttheatre.org