Denis O’Hare, who plays the Vampire King of Mississippi Russell Edgington in HBO’s series True Blood, has recently adapted Homer’s epic poem, ‘The Iliad’, for the New York stage. Collaborating with friend, Lisa Peterson who also directs, O’Hare wrote, and plays the leading role in this one-man play, ‘An Iliad’. Stephen Spinella (Angels in America) alternates performances with O’Hare.
In the early days of the Iraq War, Peterson approached O’Hare about adapting the story of the Trojan War as a platform for performance. They worked on the project periodically over the course of five years until they had a script. When asked how the work was condensed to create the script, O’Hare answered:
“We decided the most basic structure is Achilles meets Hector, the symbols of Greece and Troy respectively. We focused our stories around that central conflict with everything else radiating outward.”
O’Hare addressed the differences in acting for both stage and screen. He explained that each has benefits and drawbacks. “Actors must understand the medium in which they are working so they can adjust their performances accordingly.”
True Blood update
When the subject of True Blood came up, O’Hare said that he would be returning to the HBO series during the run of ‘An Iliad’. He explained that he is scheduled to film briefly in mid-March:
“Then I’m back in L.A. at the end of March to shoot some more. I’ve read about six scripts. They’ve got some very nice stuff planned.”
‘An Iliad’ officially opened March 6 with O’Hare and March 7 with Spinella at New York Theatre Workshop, 79 East 4 St., NYC. 212-460-5475.
Source and photo: Back Stage
