Gilgamesh

Gilgamesh was a musical based entirely upon the Epic of Gilgamesh, a really old story. Conceived and written by Daniel Elam, early dictator of One Song, it was originally a summer show One Song performed at the Forest Theatre over on the UNC campus. Because it was so successful, One Song thought it deserved a reprise. Gilgamesh (Again) was the official title of the play I worked on. The music was pretty catchy, and I enjoyed this play in spite of myself. Sure, it was ridiculous. Sure, it was difficult to follow. Heck, I didn't even follow the plot after watching the show several times. But it was good, solid fun. It was the first time I operated a follow spotlight from the catwalks. It's kind of fun to be out above the audience. Before I attended Chapel Hill High, I didn't believe my brother that there were walkways above the audience heads. I was always looking up to see where these paths would be, but all I could see was what I perceived to be a black ceiling. Since then, knowing that most of the audience is oblivious to my existence, I have taken great pleasure in working above its heads.

It wasn't until my freshman year of college that I read the Epic of Gilgamesh, and so while I was a technician for Gilgamesh, I never knew the story of Enkidu and Gilgamesh on their adventures to kill the Bull of Heaven and bring themselves everlasting glory. While a few parts of the story seem to be easily adaptable to the stage, most would be more difficult to adapt, and knowing this, I might have a different take on the musical version. I would love to go back and watch it again or even to read the script.