An Iliad

Though more serious and measured in person than his stage persona might suggest, he was quick to keep his vanity in check. When asked if he enjoyed being the sole recipient of applause at the end of each show, he gave this sincere reply: "If you're all by yourself (during a performance) and people are applauding at the end, well, they have to, right? It's obligatory. I mean, I didn't burst into flames, so yeah, I get that applause."

3.5 STARS. Overall this is, for sure, one of the most remarkable performances of the theatrical year. There's nothing pretentious about what Kane does (under the direction of Charles Newell), nor any sense of rhetorical pomposity. Crucially, it just feels like Kane — whose ravaged physical appearance is very different from his usual all-American charm — is spilling out the contents of his mind and heart, in service of some higher duty. Acting work at this level is often marked by a palpable unselfishness, a willingness to subjugate self to character and material, and that's exactly how it feels here. It is a masterpiece of acting — the clear high point of Kane's career to date — that should not be missed.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. In the best of all possible worlds, this Court Theatre production would sail out on a grand global tour — playing to audiences in war zones, public squares and the halls of power alike. In the meantime, Kane should revel in the standing ovation his performance generates and take more than a single modest bow for what is very close to a superhuman feat.

5 STARS.  In a cavernous, dilapidated sewer, a Poet (Timothy Edward Kane) compares the Trojan War to waiting in line at the grocery store: When a person waits in the same line for 20 minutes and another cashier starts moving faster, principle keeps him in place. It’s an analogy that could easily describe the current U.S. military campaigns in the Middle East, and is one of the clever ways that Denis O’Hare and Lisa Peterson connect classical and contemporary images of war in their smart, powerful and surprisingly funny play.

4 STARS. What Kane does so magnificently in An Iliad is restore the blunt tragedy of war to a story that time and bad teachers have tamed into an impenetrable fantasy along the lines of dungeons and dragons. With spectacular physicality and quicksilver dazzling command of the emotional spectrum from manic elation to dead-eyed torpor, Kane commands ever last inch of the stage. He is one person with the presence of one hundred, and he makes this ancient, potentially dusty story as vivid as newly slaughtered troops and as immediate as an oncoming freight train.

The main point I want to make with regard to Court Theatre's An Iliad is "wow." The rest of what I have to say is pretty much a gloss on that... The main thing is Kane's strenuous and beautiful tour de force. Fierce, anguished, funny, athletic, Kane huddles at times like a homeless man trying to sleep under a bridge then sprints up a wall. He doesn't seem to pace himself yet has more than enough strength for the whole haul. He's extraordinary, and O'Hare and Peterson have given him a great gift in crafting An Iliadwith such a knowing sense of how to exploit his actorly skills. Their antiwar message, when it comes, isn't offered in some kind of pious homily but in a litany of the names of just about every conflict from the Trojan War on up to the war on terror. It's at once a devastating statement and an opportunity for a bravura performance. Kane delivers both. Wow.

"War is hell". If there was any doubt of that statement, all one has to do is ask 'The Poet' who has the daunting task of recounting the tale of Troy in Court Theatre's phenomenal "An Iliad". Lisa Peterson and Denis O'Hare has reshaped Homer's epic 24 book poem, which chronicles the battle of Achilles and Hector, into a 95 minute gripping morality play. Under the tutelage of Timothy Edward Kane, who is utterly transfixing in this role, we are left with the daunting fact that man's ego is always at the center of war.

Court Theatre gives us a production that makes us think on how we can all be a better society. Now that is a rare holiday gift.

It’s against my religion to write a rave, yet still, here I go. The best theater exists not just as a spectacle kept at distance, but invades and ignites the imagination of the audience.  It takes a truly special piece of theater to inspire the audience to really do this, but this is when theater is transcendent.  It belongs not to the performers, the designers, or the director, but to the audience, becoming larger than any of them could have possibly planned.  It is generous.  This is the level of work happening in An Iliad, which opened Saturday night at Court Theatre.

Must See Show. Before we engage in further discussion, let me get this out of the way: "An Iliad" is stellar theater. You will not find a more accomplished production in Chicago or otherwise. Under the sure-handed direction of Charles Newell, Court’s veteran artistic director, every aspect of the production positively exudes perfection. Expect this show to tour, to end up on Broadway (or near it), and to be praised universally.

As a theatrical experience, An Iliad delivers the power and passion of the saga. After all, Homer’s Iliad was meant to be experienced in a live performance.  Timothy Edward Kane’s performance was truly one for the ages. You’d be hard pressed to find a more mesmerizing stage performance than Kane delivers here. Every actor needs to experience Kane’s work to see the skills necessary for a tour de force performance.

...a triumph of theater.  Kane and Newell make us children again, bewitched by a bedtime story that’s all the more galvanic because it actually happened.  As Kane restores the past to bloody eyewitness testimony, we see it happen as vividly as the multi-million dollar Hollywood blockbuster “Troy” ever allowed.  But this is how “The Iliad” was meant to be heard, a bard binding us with deathless words, as contemporary as the next foolish war that we don’t resist. 

This fall, Sadieh Rifai and Timothy Edward Kane will each confront the most flattering—and terrifying—event possible for an actor: the solo show. Rifai will tackle seven characters in The Amish Project, a ripped-from-the-headlines play at American Theater Company. Kane performs a one-man Iliad at Court Theatre. Here, the actors share the ups and downs of being your own ensemble.

...the Chicago performance is a singular achievement of memory, stamina and endurance by an actor frequently seen on Chicago’s stages, Timothy Edward Kane.

The show is anchored by Kane’s virtuosic solo performance, who tells the story as though he had been at Troy himself.

O’Hare and Peterson scripted a compelling one-man narration.  Under the skillful direction of Charles Newell, Timothy Edward Kane translates the myth to man.  Kane is superb!  He shows a broad range of emotions in recounting the casualties of war.  He is lovingly tender portraying a snippet of Hector and Andromache’s marriage.  Kane smoothly emotes both wife and husband in conversation.  Later as Achille, he rants with a barbaric fury.  In one unshakeable visual, an inconsolable Kane is screaming without any sound.  The unforgettable image is my own personal war scar from this show.  Kane’s intensity is woven through in otherwise matter-of-fact and often times very humorous recollection.  Kane engages with his personable storytelling ability.