New Zealand Festival: War, what is it good for?

Denis O'Hare, a lifelong pacifist, throws himself into An Iliad with a warrior's vigour. Photo / Joan Marcus

A reworked Iliad reminds us that we have failed to learn from history, writes Dionne Christian

He's most famous for playing 3000-year-old vampire Russell Edgington on television's True Blood; now American actor Denis O'Hare is telling a nearly 3000-year-old story that asks audiences to consider how much humanity has changed since the Trojan War.

Yes, he's a history buff, says O'Hare on the phone from New Orleans where he's filming the latest series of American Horror Story. The Tony Award-winning actor - for his role in the play Take Me Out - has long been fascinated by the ebbs and flows of civilisations and why war is a constant feature.

But he'd never read Homer's The Iliad, the ancient Greek epic poem that has 15,693 lines and tells the story of the Trojan War, replete with numerous references to Greek myths, gods and goddesses, historical events and figures, ruined civilisations and despondent warriors who rage against enemies and friends.

Then, around 2005, friend and creative collaborator Lisa Peterson told O'Hare about an idea she had to stage a war play - the US was at war in Iraq and Afghanistan - and Peterson thought theatre-makers should address this new reality. At the recommendation of a teacher friend, she read The Iliad and decided this was the story to re-tell.

"I guess there were two main points to our endeavour," says O'Hare. "There was the artistic aspect about storytelling and the power of being in a room and trying to reach other people, and then there was the practical point in that we were - are - people who find ourselves to be at war and continuing to use military might to solve problems which, as history shows us, comes at a very high price.

"We weren't scared of approaching The Iliad because we had no plan; we just kind of plunged in with both feet and read it closely with great joy and admiration for the writing and recognising the names of so many great historical characters and figures. Then we had to figure out what the story was that we wanted to tell and it became a question of whether there was one over-arching theme we could explore and how we would pick out the 'best bits'."

Over five years the story became An Iliad and blends verbatim recitals from Homer's account with contemporary riffs on violence, passion, the nature of war and current conflicts, including Syria and Afghanistan. As its way into the tale, it focuses on Iliad heroes Achilles and Hector, warriors on opposing sides who, under different circumstances, might have been friends.

O'Hare describes them as everymen - the hired muscle - who, like so many soldiers throughout history, find themselves in a conflict they have no personal stake in.

A lifelong pacifist who believes war is a waste, O'Hare says he has softened his attitude towards the individuals who fight in wars because joining the military offers the opportunity to escape poverty, gives them a sense of patriotism, and because the promise of career advancement can be powerful inducements to sign up.

"I'm a pacifist by nature and an optimist who believes you can negotiate with most people and, while there have been exceptions, most wars haven't needed to be fought.

"Today, there's been enormous change in the technology used to fight but, sadly, more civilians than ever before are killed and injured. We kill more women and children during war; we make a lot of mistakes."

After performances in Seattle, Chicago and Princeton, An Iliad premiered in New York in 2012 with Stephen Spinella and O'Hare appearing on alternating nights. Usually, it's just O'Hare, who says it's an intense, demanding experience. He speaks almost continuously for 100 minutes and plays up to 13 characters, including a narrator who guides the audience through the story as he seeks to fulfil a mission of his own.

The script is altered for each location An Iliad plays in so conflicts from that specific region can be included; O'Hare was keen to learn more aboutthe New Zealand Wars in preparation for the Wellington season.

"We want to implicate the audience because we want them to engage rather than be passive listeners.

"The narrator starts trying to communicate in ancient Greek but realises that doesn't work, so he walks through the audience asking what language they speak. He wants his story to resonate with them; he wants to know they will see the point he makes."

New Zealand Festival

What: An Iliad
Where and when: Wellington Opera House, March 12-1
Book: http://festival.co.nz/an-iliad/