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Cincinnati playwright Blake Bowden believes in the power of legends and myths.

With the Performance Gallery, he developed a stage adaptation of “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy that was produced in three consecutive years, 2001-03.

“By the time that was done, we realized that we needed another myth,” he said.

So he dug deep and found what may be one of the oldest stories in the world, the epic poem about the Babylonian king Gilgamesh, which he found in reading it had a lot of relevance to what’s going on in the world today, particularly in regard to the situation in the Middle East.

“We’re exploring questions that we’re being told it’s unpatriotic to ask,” Bowden said. “But it’s a great myth and with my background in clinical psychology I have spent some time working with veterans with post-traumatic stress syndrome and with children, and having them tell the story is really healing for them.”

The story begins in modern day with soldiers trying to figure out what is going on in the world, then there’s some magic, and the stage is transformed into the ancient world.

Bowden said that although he’s listed as the playwright, the development of  “Gilgamesh in Uruk: G.I. in Iraq”  has been a group effort with the actors and designers from the Performance Gallery.

“When I went to the first rehearsal, I told them that I had a script but that it is likely to be completely different by the time we get it to the stage, and it’s still changing,” he said two weeks before opening night.

“In fact, the actors are telling me we need to stop changing lines so that they can memorize them. It’s been very energizing.”

The development of the play was assisted by the first-ever Theatre Forward grant, a competitive grant from the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Acclaim Awards in collaboration with Cincinnati Arts Association.

how to go
WHAT: Performance Gallery presents “Gilgamesh in Uruk: G.I. in Iraq” by Blake Bowden
WHERE: Fifth Third Bank Theater, Aronoff Center for the Arts, Eighth and Main streets, Cincinnati
WHEN: Sept. 27-Oct. 7
COST: $18
MORE INFO: (513) 621-2787; www.cincinnatiarts.org