Holding Achilles
Dec. 29th, 2023 11:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meteordustStill catching up on posts I've been meaning to make.
Back in January, during the Sydney Festival, I went to see Holding Achilles at Carriageworks.
I was intrigued by the idea of aerial theatre, and I'm always up for Achilles/Patroclus. This production is a reimagining of the Iliad with a focus on their relationship. A collaboration between Dead Puppet Society and Legs on the Wall, it uses wirework and puppetry, to create epic battles and a magical world.
It was very impressive! It's something that takes full advantage of being theatre, and can really only be theatre. As in, you could reproduce the events of the story in another medium, but the way the story is expressed could only be delivered in this medium. Like when Achilles and Patroclus are travelling through a forest, and a thicket of spears moves around them to signify this, and it's part of the language and the pleasure of the storytelling.
Highlights
* Aerial combat - The wirework made for some gorgeous fight sequences. People flying through the air! People running around the length of a spear! So graceful and balletic, with dance mixed into it too.
* Puppets - The giant bear over two metres tall! Chiron the centaur on stilts!
* A thousand ships - The Act I closer was the Greek fleet setting sail. There was a stunning moment where an array of war banners lowered and transformed into a fleet of ships on the water. I love both the reveal, and the way it conjured up an armada with lights and plywood.
* Genderswapped casting - The show had women playing Agamemnon, Ajax, Priam, and Hector. It worked pretty well. It felt like in this world, you sometimes have women as warleaders and warriors, and that's just a thing.
* HECTORRR! - For the very first time, I got why Hector is so adored. She looked like a big damn hero in her shining white robes, and when she stepped onto the battlefield, it felt like the cavalry had arrived.
* Montaigne - Who represented Australia in Eurovision! She played Thetis, and cowrote and performed the songs.
Musings
I'm not sure how I feel about the ending. The premise of the story is that Achilles was actually a man who chose love over glory, and longed for a peaceful life with Patroclus in their olive grove. But after his death, his legend was rewritten by the victors, as propaganda for war and aggression.
I like the concept in principle. I like stories that reimagine the stories we already know. But for me, I feel like there are qualities that make Achilles fundamentally him, and I don't know if I can buy a version that removes those. But I appreciate what the creators are trying to do, in finding an alternative path for him that is more human and hopeful.
Trailer:
It also looks like there's a recording you can rent on the Digital Stage platform.
Back in January, during the Sydney Festival, I went to see Holding Achilles at Carriageworks.
I was intrigued by the idea of aerial theatre, and I'm always up for Achilles/Patroclus. This production is a reimagining of the Iliad with a focus on their relationship. A collaboration between Dead Puppet Society and Legs on the Wall, it uses wirework and puppetry, to create epic battles and a magical world.
It was very impressive! It's something that takes full advantage of being theatre, and can really only be theatre. As in, you could reproduce the events of the story in another medium, but the way the story is expressed could only be delivered in this medium. Like when Achilles and Patroclus are travelling through a forest, and a thicket of spears moves around them to signify this, and it's part of the language and the pleasure of the storytelling.
Highlights
* Aerial combat - The wirework made for some gorgeous fight sequences. People flying through the air! People running around the length of a spear! So graceful and balletic, with dance mixed into it too.
* Puppets - The giant bear over two metres tall! Chiron the centaur on stilts!
* A thousand ships - The Act I closer was the Greek fleet setting sail. There was a stunning moment where an array of war banners lowered and transformed into a fleet of ships on the water. I love both the reveal, and the way it conjured up an armada with lights and plywood.
* Genderswapped casting - The show had women playing Agamemnon, Ajax, Priam, and Hector. It worked pretty well. It felt like in this world, you sometimes have women as warleaders and warriors, and that's just a thing.
* HECTORRR! - For the very first time, I got why Hector is so adored. She looked like a big damn hero in her shining white robes, and when she stepped onto the battlefield, it felt like the cavalry had arrived.
* Montaigne - Who represented Australia in Eurovision! She played Thetis, and cowrote and performed the songs.
Musings
I'm not sure how I feel about the ending. The premise of the story is that Achilles was actually a man who chose love over glory, and longed for a peaceful life with Patroclus in their olive grove. But after his death, his legend was rewritten by the victors, as propaganda for war and aggression.
I like the concept in principle. I like stories that reimagine the stories we already know. But for me, I feel like there are qualities that make Achilles fundamentally him, and I don't know if I can buy a version that removes those. But I appreciate what the creators are trying to do, in finding an alternative path for him that is more human and hopeful.
Trailer:
It also looks like there's a recording you can rent on the Digital Stage platform.
