“The Cure at Troy” by Seamus Heany is an interesting piece of theater. Heany wrote this poetic version of Sophocles’ “Philoctetes” to demonstrate the foolishness of the continuing Irish “troubles.”

As the chorus says by way of an introduction, “Heroes. Victims. Gods and human beings. All throwing shapes, every one of them convinced he’s in the right, all of them glad to repeat themselves and their every last mistake. No matter what. People so deep into their own self-pity, self-pity buoys them up. People so staunch and true, they’re fixated, shining with self-regard like polished stones.”

I think this also sounds like our current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; the Patriot Act; the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security; the government’s dipping into our private lives, e-mail and phone messages without a warrant; Abu Ghraib; water boarding and torture in off-country prisons for those suspected of being terrorists.

Odysseus is ever the pragmatist. He needs two things to capture Troy: Achilles’ young son Neoptolemus, and to convince Philoctetes (whom Odysseus had abandoned on Lemnos 10 years earlier because of Philoctetes moaning and crying out from an uncured, festering snake bite) to surrender Heracles’ magical bow and arrows. The weapons are magical because the arrows never miss and they always kill. So, Odysseus goes back to Greece, convinces Neoptolemus to return to war on Troy with him and then sets Neoptolemus on the task of getting the magical weapons, with or without the injured (physically and psychically) Philoctetes or convince him to come with them to Troy.

Philoctetes comes limping over the hillside, sliding a little on loose rocks and favoring his injured foot. The rest of the play is spent convincing Philoctetes that even though he lied, Neoptolemus is an honorable boy-man, Philoctetes will find a cure for his snakebite at Troy, and Odysseus is the means to solve their problems.

Odysseus, as played by Hans Altweis, is ever pragmatic. So you lie once, it saves life. Neoptolemus (Seth Numrich) is struggling with his honor and his pity. Boris McGiver as the injured Philoctetes, struggling against his need for revenge and his desire to get off the island and find a cure, steals the show. His craggy, shaggy, filthy persona is the most powerful character in the production. His needs are the crux of the play.

The chorus, played by Jon Michael Hill, Ben Gonio and Guy Adkins, advances the story and voices the criticisms the audience feels. Director Tina Landau also has them raising their voices in song to recite some of their lines. This adds another dimension to the production.

Blythe Quinlan’s set is a craggy hillside, with a stream running down to the water. The bleakness and desolation of the island is made clear. Some rocks and mud are loose and can be slipped on. Great care must be taken to not slide around.

Anita Yavich’s costumes are so interesting. The soldiers, Odysseus and Neoptolemus, are dressed in a combination of ancient Hoplite fashion and a futuristic knee-high biker boots chic, which serves to make the play timeless. The chorus members are dressed in black and dark grey, to add to their unobtrusiveness, until needed.

The original story is so powerful, the plight of Philoctetes so raw and Heany’s words so beautiful, that this is well worth seeing.

“The Cure at Troy” runs through May 3. For tickets and information, call the Seattle Repertory Theatre box office at (877) 900-9285 or go online at www.seattlerep.org.