Beowulf - A Thousand Years of Baggage," which opened at the American Repertory Theater's Oberon space on April 16 and will run through May 5, is not your typical piece of theater. For one thing, it's a "SongPlay" melded with club-style music, amusing battles and academic dialogue. The play begins as though at a conference, with three academics introducing the epic poem "Beowulf." It soon dissolves into a retelling of the tale with each academic transforming into one of Beowulf's enemies.
The production intends to be fun and comical rather than thought provoking, and it succeeds. The play consistently manages to be untraditional and unexpected. Two middle-aged, comically unimpressive-looking actors play the hero Beowulf and his enemy, Grendel. Rick Burkhardt's performance of Grendel is fascinating. Dressed as an academic, he portrays Grendel as confused and obsessed with his mother. Still, something about the portrayal is unsettling
