Homer’s Iliad, Stork Theatre, 14 March 2021 (REVIEW) ****

 

THEATRE

Homer’s Iliad, Stork Theatre

At Fairfield Amphitheatre, Sunday 14 March 2021 (one date only)

Reviewer: Kate Herbert on 14 March 2021

Stars: ****

 This review is of only a short excerpt of the readings on 14 March. It is published only on this blog. KH

Homer's Iliad at Fairfield Amphitheatre. (Sigrid Thornton reading.)

What a better way to witness the reading of Homer’s Iliad than seated in a stony Amphitheatre, beside the drifting, slightly murky waters of the Yarra at Fairfield Park, with its fringe of gum trees and a natural soundscape of water birds, canoes and children play

 

I caught the end of Book 16 read by the versatile Tanya Gerstle, and the beginning of Book 21 read by the honey-voiced Paul English, but I was fortunate to hear all 30 minutes of Book 18, read by Geraldine Cook.

 

Cook, with her evocative, warm, gently physical and often witty reading, conjures the world of the battleground as Achilles mourns the violent death of his friend, Patroclus, at the hands of Hector, the ferocious, Trojan warrior.

 

She entrances us with her vivid narration, which is impassioned, empathic and atmospheric, evoking the passion of the goddess mother, Thetis, and the fierceness of her son Achilles, the fastest runner of the Greeks, the son of a goddess and a mortal.

 

The grief and songs of mourning are an undercurrent and backdrop to Achilles adamant assertion that he will recover Patroclus’ body from the battlefield before Hector can remove it and mount Patroclus’ head on the palisades as a trophy of war.

 

Thetis, who bore Achilles to the mortal Peleus, tells Achilles to wait for her to bring him immortal armour from the gods, since he has lost his own armour on the battlefield. Once he has this armour forged by the ageing, crippled god of fire, Achilles storms the battleground and retrieves Patroclus’ body.

 

The Siege of Troy, now in its tenth year, comes to life in this powerful reading and some valiant audience members stayed for the entire eight hours of gods and heroes to hear readings by Cook, Gerstle and English, as well as Eloise Mignon, Dushan Philips, Sigrid Thornton, Helen Morse, Jack Charles, Jane Montgomery Griffiths and Matt Furlani.

 

by Kate Herbert

PS: There was approx 85% allowed and no masks required. I think I was the only person sporting a mask! it just doesn't feel right yet.