An Iliad
By Lisa Peterson & Denis O’Hare
based on Homer’s The Iliad, translated by Robert Fagles
Originally Directed by Bill Van Horn | Directed by Dawn McAndrews

An Iliad is a modern-day retelling of Homer’s classic. Poetry and humor, the ancient tale of the Trojan War, and the modern world collide in this captivating theatrical experience. The setting is simple: the empty theater. The time is now: the present moment. The lone figure onstage is a storyteller—possibly Homer, possibly one of the many bards who followed in his footsteps. He is fated to tell this story throughout history.

Schedule

Saturday, July 8, 7:30 p.m. (Opening/Monmouth Night)
Saturday, July 15, 1:00 p.m.
Wednesday, August 2, 1:00 p.m.
Saturday, August 5, 7:30 p.m. (Post-Show Discussion to Follow)
Thursday, August 10, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, August 12, 1:00 p.m. (Closing Night)

 Production Team


Dawn McAndrews
Director
Bill Van Horn
Original Direction
Jim Alexander
Set Designer
Sydney Enthoven
Asst. Stage Manager

Erin Fauble
Lighting Designer
Madelaine Foster
Props Supervisor
Michelle Handley
Costume Designer
Dominique Nadeau
Stage Manager

Scott O’Brien
Sound Designer

Cast


Mark S. Cartier
The Poet

From the Director

During the middle years of the pandemic, theaters across the country were looking for plays with small casts in order to keep the plague from infecting companies and closing down the meagre money that was trickling in from stalwart patrons and donors. TAM veteran, Mark S. Cartier, began memorizing the role of The Poet in An Iliad during the pandemic to keep his actor brain firing while waiting for theater to return. We decided to combine An Iliad, directed by Bill Van Horn, with another one person show I’d been kicking around, Grounded, featuring company member Amber McNew as The Pilot.

These two plays together formed: The War Plays which were performed in the Fall of 2021. While those who saw both plays were awed by the raw emotions and the effects of war on humans and civilizations, I’m sad to say that the pandemic kept
audiences from experiencing them to the fullest.

Here we are in 2023, still reeling from the effects of the dollars lost due to the pandemic years and facing continued war across the globe, we decided to bring the play, and Mark Cartier, back for 2023, to remind us of the years of conflict that have been endured through the ages, since the time of Homer, and the leagues of Poets that have spoken these tales.

This is a story you may think you know; a classic featuring gods and warriors. Homer’s epic is reborn through the heart of a war-weary poet. Bathed in bravery, blood, and the heat of battle, the telling ravages the Poet every time he tells the tale. But there’s a reason he’s got the job. He may be able to make us understand. Perhaps he could make us stop.

An Iliad doesn’t pretend to tell the story of The Iliad, but instead provides a version narrated by a contemporary of our world today whose familiarity with the epic events casts a light on human nature and the continued existence of war.

Listen to the Poet with an open mind and a willing heart, he’s travelled miles to share his story with us, the least we can do, is listen.