TWO RECENT PERFORMANCES OF THE GILGAMESH STORY:

Questions of existentialism, morality and the use of power come to AUB in the role of Gilgamesh
Ancient epic gives a nascent university drama group the chance to develop

By Ahmad Ayyub
Special to The Daily Star[, Lebanon]
Thursday, April 22, 2004

The "Epic of Gilgamesh" is set to live again, starting Wednesday night at the Bathish Auditorium in AUB's West Hall. The play, which will be performed mostly by students, promises to bring a piece of popular history with a streak of humor.

"One of the reasons why people like the 'Epic of Gilgamesh' is that they find in it similar concerns to what we still have in the 21st century, even though our worlds are different," said Peter Shebaya, who is directing the play.

[...]

"The solution to getting the ruler to be a better ruler is for him to become more human, which is an interesting comment in every day and age," Shebaya said. "Oppression is not just a matter of who has the power, it is also a human question. Oppression is inhuman; a person who is doing the oppression is not really a human being," he added.

Shebaya explains that if you can have all the power in the world without authentic friendship and mutual concern, you can be totally inhuman. "This is certainly a message for every century. People who are in power think that that is the most important thing; they just want power after power."

In this epic, we notice that until Gilgamesh has friendship he is not really human - he is just superhuman or inhuman. With Enkidu, he starts to become more human, as power stops being everything, and concern for someone else becomes important.

"Great literature always speaks to us - and the issue of power and its abuse by rulers is at the heart of this epic," Shebaya said.

[...]

Avant-Garde Polish Company Extends Grotowski's Legacy
Memory Songs
by Tom Sellar
April 26th, 2004 5:35 PM
(The Village Voice)

On a warm spring evening, Ellen Stewart gives her customary pre-performance blessing in La MaMa's lobby. The downtown doyenne gestures to members of Poland's Song of the Goat Theatre, who are waiting in the corner to perform Chronicles, A Lamentation, and her face lights up. "When Jerzy Grotowski brought his company here in 1967, he was like my son," she declares proudly, "and these artists, from Song of the Goat, are like his grandchildren."

[...]

When the lights rise on five seats resembling gravestones, a pair of veiled women begin chanting an ancient lament for the Babylonian king, who sought immortal life in seduction and battle. As breathing and vocalized weeping give way to broad movement, the women extend their rhythms to a chorus of men, creating a rich polyphonic weave of narration and grieving. In story and song, the seven ensemble members then recite Gilgamesh's short tale, enacting key episodes through wailing, droning, dancing, and brandishing incense and torches. Gilgamesh demonstrates his godlike prowess in war and love, but his aspirations for eternal life collapse, taking humanity's hopes for immortality with him.

[...]

If you're wondering what Gilgamesh has to do with ancient Judaism, go here.