Birdcap Iliumpta at Crosstown Arts Feb 9th 6-8pm
Birdcap Iliumpta is a retelling of Homers Iliad set in the Southernmost bayous of Mississippi. Named after the county the story takes place in, Iliumpta draws comparisons between masculinity in the American South and the sandaled heroes of yore, often pointing out the weakness in a regional outlook that insists on staying put during hurricanes.
Directly, this work is about Southern fatalism and its effects on masculinity. Fatalism makes an outlook so despairing that stoicism may masquerade as heroism. The men in these works shout from a nihilistic void, and in their attempts to be heroic, they, like the ancients before them, choose death over happiness, a closed ear before sound advice, and doom before an apology.