Ilíada

The war, three thousand years later

Nine years after Paris abducts Helen, the Achaean army has managed to besiege Troy. The war seems close to ending, but Achilles withdraws from battle after a dispute with King Agamemnon. That decision will change the course of the war and send tragedy spiralling on both sides. This is how the Ilíada, foundational work of European culture, adapted for the stage by Guillem Clua. Directed by José Luis Arellano, the play is part of the Project Homero de La Joven Compañía and is complemented by the version of the Odisea by Alberto Conejero.

“Is there anything that connects us to this epic written more than 3,000 years ago?”. Clua asked himself this question when he was commissioned to adapt the Ilíada, which he accepted immediately, even though he knew he was taking on an impossible task as a writer of contemporary texts. “It is an immense work, not only because of its length, but because of the importance of Homer’s songs to our identity and culture as a Western society”. The answer came immediately: “The horror of war has changed very little. Homer’s verses about human passions remain completely recognisable”. Clua, a collaborator with the company from the very beginning, did not want the emotion and passion of the original to be the only connection with young audiences and, beyond Achilles’ sword piercing Hector’s heart, traced the deaths and vendettas to find the political motivations behind so much devastation.

This is not the first time the author has written about war. He did so in La piel en llamas e Invasión, both directed by José Luis Arellano, El sabor de las cenizas and even Marburg. With this piece, Clua ventures into war territory once again. “Me interesaba mostrar cuales son los efectos de los conflictos armados en las relaciones humanas. Pero no de una forma cruda y fría, sino humanizando la épica”. To do so, the playwright has not limited himself to recounting the best-known passages from the original songs; he has also drawn on fragments and characters from the Orestíada o la Eneida, among other works. The plots have been substantially condensed and clearly explained, with greater emphasis given to the female characters, such as Helen, Andromache and Cassandra.