Classic made palatable for today's teens

By Joseph T. Rozmiarek
Special to The Advertiser

Louie Hung is Achilles and Reb Beau Allen is Agamemnon in HTY's revved-up modern adaptation of Homer's Greek epic poem "The Iliad." Brad Goda 'Dis/Troy' 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays, through March 20 Tenney Theatre, St. Andrew's Cathedral $12 and $6 839-9885, www.htyweb.org

Imagine "Cliff's Notes" falling into the hands of the "Monty Python Flying Circus," then improvised and peppered with crunching stage combat. Yet out of it all, we get a good sense of the characters and the central flaw that plagues Achilles, one of literature's first anti-heroes.

Mark Lutwak directs a cast of four actors, all of whom double in multiple roles, some of them cross-gender.

The cast gets the audience ready to listen by introducing themselves and the characters they will play, then marching through a choreographed geometry of martial moves to set a serious tone.

The first to appear are the human characters, primarily a vain and self-absorbed Agamemnon (Reb Beau Allen) and a headstrong Achilles (Louie Hung). The Greeks are dying from a plague sent by the gods to punish Agamemnon for abducting the daughter of a priest. Achilles goads him into giving her up, but at the cost of Agamemnon appropriating Achilles' own paramour.

The scene changes to Olympus, where the gods are watching the humans via remote-controlled television. Hera (Hermen Tesoro Jr.) supports the Greeks, while her son Ares (Janice Terukina), god of war, and his girlfriend Aphrodite (Hung), goddess of love, favor the Trojans.

They squabble over lists of casualties, peeking into the future and trying to intercept prayers to Zeus (Allen).

Zeus bristles at their interference, but gods will be gods, and their favorite pastime seems to be annoying the mortals.

As the scenes flip between Olympus and the Greek and Trojan camps, the character of Achilles emerges.

Although the best of the Greek warriors, he is unwilling to fight for Agamemnon and driven by superstition over his foretold death.

Instead, he lets his friend Patroclus (Tesoro) borrow his armor to fight the Trojan hero Hector (Allen) in his place. Only Patroclus' defeat brings Achilles into the fray, driven by mounting madness at the prospect of his own certain death.

Hector's farewell to his wife Andromanche (Terukina) and his infant son is one of the few touchingly human moments in the play, as is King Priam's (Tesoro) begging Achilles to return Hector's mutilated body.

The script gives the cast a real workout, crossing swords one moment and delivering campy lines — like "Get rid of the bimbo and I'll go warm up the chariot" — the next.

It's a risky approach, but one that seems to work with a high school audience by cutting right to the core of the action. Ultimately, the story prevails, we get a relatively painless lesson in the classics and see some versatile acting as well.

Kathe James designs gorgeous authentic costumes, Babatunji Heath adds heavy percussion for the musical track and Tony Pisculli keeps the battles grounded with powerful stage combat.

Not bad, and all in under 60 minutes.