In 1872, a scholar named George Smith began to decipher ancient cuneiform tablets for the British Museum and deciphered the Epic of Gilgamesh. More than a century later, Gilgamesh has materialized in the form of a theatre department play at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.
The Izumi Ashizawa-adapted play opens with Smith (David Lloyd Olson) discovering the tablets containing the Epic of Gilgamesh. While studying them, he finds they contain a version of the story of Noah and the Biblical flood that the people he presents the ideas to consider blasphemous. He goes on to retell the story to the audience.
Gilgamesh (Gregory Mack) is the distracted and distraught king of Uruk (present-day Iraq). After his friend Enkidu’s death, Gilgamesh begins to question his own mortality and wonders, “Is there a way to overcome death?” He begins a journey through the mythological world of ancient Mesopotamia to find eternal youth.
Throughout his journey, Gilgamesh encounters wild living trees (Cheslie Lloyd and Olivia Brann), a ferocious serpent (Whitney Rose Pynn) and multi-breasted women (Raechel and Vanessa Nolan).
The story is complex, sometimes confusing and completely overshadowed by every other aspect of the play. The point of the great flood seems jammed in with the quest for eternal life, and some of the storytelling is so over the top that, though entertaining to watch, is baffling. Luckily, every other facet of the show is masterly and keeps Gilgamesh interesting to watch.
The ensemble is used brilliantly. Only Mack and Olson play single parts and the rest of the cast brings ancient Mesopotamia to life. For example, besides playing the parts of Gilgamesh’s soldiers (Jason Glass, Andrew Kim, Nick Mercurio, Shane O’Laughlin and Scott Whalen), two of the actors are also puppeteers who use shadow puppets to illustrate parts of the story. The women of the cast portray the mothers of Mesopotamia, wild cedar trees and scorpions, among other characters.
The set is by far the most excellent in a theatre department production in recent memory. The stage, which appears to be carved out of stone, protrudes out into the audience, and trap doors open and close to reveal props or engulf the cast.
As the show begins, a bridge protrudes from the middle of the audience. The cast and crew should be commended for keeping it all in order: moving in and out of the trap doors and climbing the set while somehow keeping the show moving without a hitch. With such a technical set and constant movement, this alone was an incredible feat.
Along with the set are several surprising effects pulled off by the production crew, including sand raining from the sky and a body dropping from the ceiling. The technicality of the show turns it from a play into a spectacle.
The acting in Gilgamesh is different from a typical play. These actors have learned a new way to move, and every movement in Gilgamesh has meaning. Ashizawa has directed her cast not to walk, but to climb, dance and jump. Combined with the chanting and singing, which encircle the audience, the play has a very tribal feel. Vocal performances through chants, moans and whispers create the mythical aura that surrounds the stage. The movement and vocals actually top the straight acting, which, like the story itself, is exaggerated and embellished.
Gilgamesh is a complex play that only works when all its pieces come together. The stage, props, costumes, makeup and stage direction set a new bar for CSPAC productions. The cast members work excellently as an ensemble and play their roles with a zest and passion that illuminate the theater. Only the story falters at times, as it straddles the line between awesome and obscure. The story satisfies well enough, but does not live up to the other components of the play.
Either way, the spectacle alone makes this play worth checking out.
Gilgamesh runs from Wednesday to Sunday at CSPAC’s Kogod Theatre. Student tickets are $9, and non-student tickets are $26.
RATING: 3.5 out of 5 stars
afreedman@umdbk.com
