King Gilgamesh and the Man of the Wild opened at Soulpepper on Wednesday evening but I saw a preview on Sunday which forms the basis for this review.  It’s an unusual and compelling show with a clever story line, some terrific acting (verbal and physical) and a Sufi influenced Arabic jazz band for good measure.

It’s a co-production of Soulpepper and TRIA Theatre and it was created by the two actorss; Ahmed Moneka and Jesse LaVercombe, and the director Seth Bockley.  Basically it’s a mash-up of the Epic of Gilgamesh and the life stories (or some version of them) of the two actors.  So Moneka plays himself; an actor who got refugee status in Canada after his film at TIFF was banned in Iraq, and Gilgamesh while LaVercombe plays himself; a Jewish actor from Minnesota trying to get a part in a Hollywood film about bombing Iraq, and Enkidu; a wild man who becomes Gilgamesh’s friend and confident.

The two story lines are twisted together really cleverly and the action switches back and forth seamlessly.  At one moment the guys are dudes doing mushrooms in a Toronto café, the next they are confronting Humbaba; monstrous guardian of the cedar forests.  It’s very physical.  LaVercombe makes a fantastic fist of portraying Enkidu in his primeval, animal state (he’s humanised by sleeping with a prostitute sent to trap him by Gilgamesh).

It’s also very funny.  There’s a running gag about how much the goddess Ishtar wants to sleep with a reluctant Gilgamesh (she’s the Goddess of Sex and Death) and the boys’ description of their first sexual experiences is funny in the way that only teenage sexual fumbling can be.  There’s also music.  Moneka leads a Juno nominated Arabic jazz band in real life and here they are with Moneka on vocals (he’s good) and LaVercombe on keyboards (he’s good too).  It adds a ton of energy to what is already a show that fizzes with electricity.  Ninety minutes flies by.

The combination of a clever script, great acting and really good music is hard to beat.  And the takeaway?  Friendship endures whether it’s Uruk c.2000BCE or Toronto today.

King Gilgamesh plays in the Michael Young Theatre at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts until October 5th.

 Photo credits: Dahlia Katz