Achilles, Death of the Gods is a theatrical spoken word performance by storyteller and classicist Jo Kelen. The one-person show recounts the well-known and loved tale of the warrior Achilles and his lover Patroclus in the Trojan War. This story, popularised in the last few years by the best-selling book The Song of Achilles and featuring in classics such as The Iliad, is difficult to imagine from a new angle. Kelen uncovers an uncomfortable truth in the narrative and forces their audience to face the dirty and gory details of this compelling story that we often gloss over. They ask the audience to imagine this story with no gods, revealing the harsh nature of mankind by excluding the meddling deities.
Kelen’s talent is self-sufficient; they needed no special props or sounds but were accompanied only by impressive lighting, which subtly indicated which of the many characters was speaking and highlighted when bloody action was happening. There was no confusion as Kelen used different body language, tone and lighting to embody each character, swapping between multiple in quick succession so that the characters could have a conversation. Achilles was lit in gold, the colour associated with fame and his flowing hair, while Briseis is sorrowful in blue. She is the only female character and becomes the voice of reason in the chaos of male pride, yet she is treated as a prize to be possessed by all those but her friend Patroclus. The use of a small bell created a haunting sense of foreboding throughout the play, and although Kelen included moments of humour, the audience seemed in too deep a trance to recognise them.
I was glad not to be in the front row, as Kelen’s penetrating gaze scanned the room, with them in the centre and us, the audience, gathered around them. This made the performance feel more intimate and gave the impression of breaking the fourth wall, also apparent in the way Kelen used the second person to include the audience in the action. Their sudden exclamation “you get stabbed through the abdomen” made one man jump out of his skin. This show isn’t for the faint-hearted, with gruesome descriptions of the bodily mutilation seen in war.
This show is a hidden gem in the Fringe. The tragic retelling of Achilles’ rise and subsequent fall will make you feel everything from rage to disgust to despair. This performance beautifully captured the complexities of grief in a world that too often turns away from the bitter anger that accompanies death. Kelen presents an Achilles that develops from an arrogant head-strong teenage boy to a heart-broken man desperate to bring back his lover; recognising his own helplessness and fragility. Achilles’ pain is palpable. I believe that everyone in the audience had more than one moment of feeling uncomfortable as they were forced to reckon with Achilles’ raw and bleeding heart, which resonates with so many of us in multiple and complex ways. I feel that this is why we must keep telling this story for many generations to come.
Achilles, Death of the Gods by Jo Kelen is on at 15:45 in The Snug at Paradise in Augustines, 18-25 Aug.
Tickets available here.
Image provided to The Student as press material.