The Epic of Gilgamesh

This short clip was created as a chapter for a project with Little Angel Theatre’s Puppetry Ensemble - a retelling of the epic poem: The Epic of Gilgamesh, with puppets.

About the story

Two thirds divine and one third mortal, Gilgamesh is introduced as a cruel and oppressive ruler of Uruk. A mighty but desolate city, all traces of nature have been stripped from the area to build the sprawling metropolis. The citizens of Uruk pray to the gods to help quell the brutality of their King, and so the gods create Enkidu as his equal. Enkidu is a wild man; strong and tenacious and kind; and when he hears of Gilgamesh's tyranny he travels to Uruk to confront the wicked king. The two fight, and upon finding they are evenly matched, become close friends. 

Together, they embark on many journeys, most famously travelling to the Cedar Forest of the gods to chop down trees for building. There they meet Humbaba, divine guardian of the Cedar Forest, who is angry at the two friends for trying to destroy the ancient woodland. In order to save themselves, they blind Humbaba and flee. Enkidu feels shame and sadness over their treatment of Humbaba and the forest, and his guilt begins to affect Gilgamesh too. Meanwhile, the gods are outraged at the actions of the two friends, and call a meeting to decide what to do about them. There is an argument, and the gods strike Enkidu, who grows sick and, as he lays dyeing, bequeaths Gilgamesh some seeds from the Cedar Forest and asks his friend to right their wrongdoings. Gilgamesh is utterly grief-stricken at the death of his dear friend and in turn becomes frightfully aware of his own mortality and fearful of death. 

Hoping to find the secret to everlasting life, Gilgamesh sets out to find Utnapishtim, survivor of the Great Flood, who was rewarded with immortality by the gods. Gilgamesh travels a great distance and overcomes many obstacles in his journey to find Utnapishtim; he encounters a pair of terrifying scorpion people but, once Gilgamesh tells them his purpose, they allow him to pass. He walks through a mountain in total darkness for many long hours before he finally comes into the light where he finds a beautiful garden in which he meets Siduri, the divine Alewife. At first, she attempts to persuade him to accept death as inevitable and not journey further. When Gilgamesh refuses to do this, she directs him to Urshanabi, the ferryman of the gods, who ferries Gilgamesh across the sea to Utnapishtim's homeland. There, Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh the story of how he gained his immortality. 

Utnapishtim directs Gilgamesh to seek out a plant which grows at the very bottom of the ocean. After great effort, Gilgamesh retrieves this plant, but on his return to shore he falls asleep, and the plant is eaten by a serpent. When Gilgamesh wakes he sees the plant is gone and the serpent has shed its skin. It is then that he realises eternal life is beyond his reach and comes to terms with his mortality.He returns home to Uruk, a better man for all his experiences, and determined to be a leader worthy of his people. In the grounds of his homeland he plants the seeds given to him by his great friend Enkidu, and in doing so,  inadvertently achieves the greatest form of immortality - creating a better future for generations to come.

About the project

Challenged to make a puppet performance almost exclusively from cardboard, this innovative low-tech piece was a dream project for me. Distance-working in collaboration with a group of talented and inspiring puppeteers and creators, the story was divided into 16 parts: I created Act 2 Scene 2 - Gilgamesh and Enkidu's confrontation with the fearsome Humbaba!

In the source material, Humbaba is cast as a kind of villainous monster: "Humbaba's roar is a flood, his mouth is death and his breath is fire! He can hear a hundred leagues away any rustling in his forest! Who would go down into his forest!"

But in an alternative version of the story, Humbaba is described in a more positive light: "Where Humbaba came and went there was a track, the paths were in good order and the way was well trodden ... Through all the forest a bird began to sing: A wood pigeon was moaning, a turtle dove calling in answer. Monkey mothers sing aloud, a youngster monkey shrieks: like a band of musicians and drummers daily they bash out a rhythm in the presence of Humbaba." In this version, Humbaba is a kind of sovereign-caretaker, the forest his palace, and its animals his heralds and courtiers. This version goes on to portray Gilgamesh as the aggressor, attacking the forest, and Humbaba's death is lamented by Enkidu. 

I wanted to keep the imagery of Humbaba as fearsome, but portray the character as a guardian of nature: an opponent to Gilgamesh and Enkidu, but not quite a villain. I decided to gender-swap Humbaba, and re-imagined her as female. I felt this stronger female representation improved the texture of the story, and I loved the sense of folkloric connection; of the powerful enigmatic woman who lives secluded in the woods. 

It was important to me to include an environmental message in the storyline – the acquisition and subsequent planting of the seeds –  I felt it echoed Enkidu’s wild nature, and gave a relatable and uplifting ending to a production aimed at young audiences. Much of my scene was written and adapted in collaboration with the other wonderful creators involved in Act 2. However, this additional storyline would need to extend far beyond Act 2, concluding in the final scene of the production. And so together with the rest of the ensemble we discussed how we would weave this strand into the tapestry of the story. So much of this project was a group effort, and for me, a truly wonderful example of the joy and thrilling potential of collaborative creative work.

In collaboration with

Phil Simpson, Meltem Turkoz, Jacqueline Burrell, Ridhi Aggarwal, Sam Southwick, Jasmine Chiu, Jessica Shead, Lynn Dowsett, Debra Bassnett, Rosina Godwin, Helen Bovey, Noah Silver, Erin Gilbey, Isabella Hill, and Holly Meechan.

With special thanks to

Oonagh, Kate, Sam, Jess, and Jasmine.

Inspirations

Theatre designer Sam Wilde, lightbox artist duo Hari & Deepti, paper artists Su Blackwell and Helen Musselwhite. 

Story based on the epic poem of Gilgamesh.