Review: AN ILIAD Brings Us Home at Theatrical Outfit

In a true return to original form, AN ILIAD at Theatrical Outfit is an intimate performance of the story of Hector and Achilles as told by one person - The Poet himself. Played by Suzi Bass Award-winner Lee Osorio, The Poet guides the audience through a tragically epic story, complete with props and the occasional help of The Muse, Deisha Oliver on cello.

It was such a delight to feel human again. After so long out of the theatre, I'd almost forgotten how intimate a thing it is to be in the same room as someone else telling a story. Starting slowly and ending softly, AN ILIAD feels like a liminal space between theatre's new beginning post-COVID shutdown and the revival of an ancient human tradition.

I love how the show asks big questions directly to the audience. "What would you do if you knew your life was going to be short and glorious?" "Why is it so hard to describe a good man?" I have no answers. I've been dwelling on these questions since seeing the show and still can't come up with anything I'm satisfied with.

Lee Osorio's dynamic presence fills his small space with so much ease he spills out into everywhere without contest. He sways the whole theatre with his voice, truly taking his audience captive. Ranging from an utterly bemused vagabond to the personification of a death knell, Osorio's solo performance is breathtaking. Homer would be proud.

Decked in Alan Yeong's costume designs and wielding Nick Battaglia's props, Osorio reminded me of a wandering peddler who mysteriously comes to sell his wares one day and then is never seen again. During one moment of the show, Osorio dumped all his belongings in a giant rug sack to the floor, and I was a little heartbroken to see he didn't even own a toothbrush.

Deisha Oliver's accompaniment is so well threaded throughout the tapestry of the show that I seldom caught her picking up or putting down her bow. Her classical training is evident as confidence in her craft radiates from her presence. Oliver as The Muse has a removed solemnity about her, as if she were merely hearing Osorio and unable to see him.

The set is a desolate mess of forgotten toys. It looks as if you'd wandered upon the ruins of an old theatre backstage. Half set-up, half full of dust and trash. As Osorio struts and frets across his stage within a stage, he is surrounded by rubble. A single ghost light gives the room a haunting vibe - as if it were a reverent place and I should pray and give thanks before leaving.

The lighting and soundscape plays like rabbits across the stage - occasionally popping up and bounding through the story to help tell it or hiding away, leaving Osorio to sink or swim himself. I saw the stage flood with a blood-red so dark that for a moment I knew Achilles' rage as it devoured without mercy. Then I heard the echoes of souls as they crossed the River Styx.

I felt transported as AN ILIAD began. As it ended, I came back to the present day awestruck by theatre's resiliency. As a phoenix rises from the ashes with each death, so too will Atlanta theatre rise again. AN ILIAD is merely the beginning of it all.

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AN ILIAD at Theatrical Outfit is live on stage through October 10th. For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.