The Power of Myth:
Hans Altwies on Bringing Legendary Characters To The Stage
By Ian Chant |
Hans Altwies |
It's no stretch to say that veteran Seattle performer Hans Altwies is taking on some legendary roles
lately. Having just finished bringing the stories of Norse Mythology to life at Seattle Children's
Theatre in In The Northern Lands, Altwies has been tapped to tackle the original epic in An
Iliad at Seattle Rep. The two pieces, Altwies says, are cut from the same cloth.
"They both deal with the ultimate in heroics, and the ultimate in shallowness and cruelty," Altwies
points out. "They have a size... As soon as you start dealing with these impossibly huge stories, these
ultimate stories, you immediately feel a different responsibility."
With that responsibility comes a set of unique challenges, not the least of which lies in doing
justice to stories that are larger than life and older than recorded history, while remaining relatable to
a modern audience.
"How do you reach the size of these stories, and the size of these feelings?" Altwies asks,
acknowledging the high bar before him. "Because they're bigger...there's definitely a challenge that
arises, and it's a wonderful challenge as far as I'm concerned."
But it's not only that An Iliad is a tall order for a performer—both the story and the
show roam far and wide, addressing a myriad of themes and emotions—it's also a story that demands
care and respect in the approach of the artists adapting it.
"This Iliad is a perfect structure, and I think they did a great job of capturing both how
stupid the story is, how stupid these egomaniacal warriors are, and how incredible they are, and how
incredible their feelings are," Altwies says.
These contrasts—between a huge story and an intimate stage, the absurdity of war and the
glamour associated with it—are what make the play remarkable for Altwies.
"One of the reasons I love this piece so much is because it bounces freely back and forth between a
man speaking to an audience and this poet singing to people..." Altwies observes. "What comes across in
this particular version is a poet condemned for the rest of his life to tell war stories... And he can't
stand war, he hates it, it's infuriating and so, so stupid. But at the same time, it's fantastic, with
characters like Hector and Achilles and Patroclus... He's inspired by these people, but he can't bear to
tell the story. And yet he has to, every time."
And while An Iliad is a story featuring a whole cast of legendary characters, this version,
developed over the last several years by director Lisa Peterson and Tony-Award-winning actor Denis O'Hare,
depends on just one performer to tell the story. It will represent Altwies' first foray into the world of
the one-person show, another aspect of the show that he finds simultaneously demanding and exciting.
"The more I work on it, the less I'm worried," Altwies says. "There is something about a single person
on stage that, in my opinion, allows a listener to engage on a deeper level. A dynamic between two
different people is a relationship on stage. When you're watching a one-person show, the relationship is
you and the performer."
And while there's an increased sense of intimacy with his audience, being relieved of his obligations
to the other performers with whom he usually shares a stage represents a chance for Altwies to really cut
loose. "I feel like I can be way braver than I have ever been before, and that's exciting," says Altwies.
"In my experience, there's something always holding an actor back...You want to be sure that you're doing
the same thing that everybody else on stage is doing so that it's not incongruous. But when you're alone,
you get to take an ownership that is whole. I don't have to hold back or adjust for anything, it's just me."
That sense of freedom, though, may also come back to the immensity of An Iliad. In telling a
story that looms so large in the collective literary psyche, Altwies has an almost unmatched opportunity
to become a vessel for the tale, an experience that's liberating in it's own right.
"I'm so small in the face of this, it feels great," Altwies says. "I know that I'm out of the way. I
mean nothing. I am a vehicle for the story, and that feels very, very good and very freeing."
Ian Chant is the Communications Intern at Seattle Repertory Theatre
