‘Father Comes Home From The Wars’ Is Epic Drama

John Turner

As with any time period, modern drama owes much of its appeal to the symbolic, representative works of the ancient Greek masters. And never is that more evident than in “Father Comes Home From The Wars” the stunning Civil War-era drama that has performances April 5-May 15 at Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. The powerful play, which is the first in a series of plays by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, opened on Broadway in October 2014 and went on to claim the 2015 Kennedy Prize for Drama.

As Parks’ title suggests, “Father Comes Home From The Wars” is divided into three separate but closely connected acts about an enslaved man named Hero, appropriately enough, who goes off to fight in the American Civil War – for the Confederates. Parks uses Homer’s “The Odyssey,” the epic poem about the journey of a Greek warrior, as an informal template for her own epic story. During the first act, for example, Hero is dubbed “Ulysses” by his fellow soldiers; that nickname is obviously borrowed from the Greek god and, ironically, from the first name of the opposing Civil War general. Parks gives another shout-out to Homer by naming Hero’s dog Odyssey – though, in the play, it’s pronounced as “Odd-See” because, as one character explains, the dog has “eyes that go this way and that.”

The first act called “A Measure of a Man” chronicles Hero’s decision over whether to go fight for the Confederacy – the very men who are willing to die in order to keep Hero enslaved to them. Act Two, “A Battle in the Wilderness,” is a mid-war snapshot of Hero/Ulysses’ struggles and the final act, “The Union of My Confederate Parts,” describes Hero’s dramatic return to his family.

“Father Comes Home From The Wars” at Mark Taper Forum shares many of the same cast and crew members as in the 2014 Broadway production. Both were directed by Jo Bonney and star Sterling K. Brown as Hero. And like this play’s Broadway debut, audiences at the Taper Forum should prepare for a drama of epic proportions.

“Father Comes Home From The Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3)” has performances at Mark Taper Forum April 5-May 15. For more information and tickets, see the theater’s event page.