Henry Woronicz and Brian Ellingsen to Lead AN ILIAD at La Jolla Playhouse

La Jolla Playhouse has just announced casting for its upcoming production of An Iliad, a one-man adaptation of Homer's classic tale, adapted by Denis O'Hare (Tony Award-winning actor in Take Me Out) and Lisa Peterson (director of The Playhouse's Surf Report and Be Aggressive), based on a translation by Robert Fagles, directed by Lisa Peterson. A co-production with Berkeley Repertory Theatre, An Iliad features Henry Woronicz as the "Poet," with Brian Ellingsen as the "Musician" and runs August 11 – September 9 in the Mandell Weiss Forum.

The creative team includes: Lisa Peterson, director; Rachel Hauck, set design; Marina Draghici, costume design; Scott Zielinski, lighting design and Mark Bennett, original music and sound design.

The Trojan War has never been more enthralling than in this visionary new adaptation of Homer's epic tale. Spinning the familiar saga of gods and goddesses, undying love and endless battles, An Iliad's stalwart storyteller takes audiences on a sweeping journey to the front lines of nearly every major war in history, in this riveting account of humanity's unshakeable attraction to violence, destruction and chaos.

Winner of the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Solo Show, An Iliad has been hailed by critics. "A brilliant and thrilling adaptation," raved the Philadelphia Enquirer; while The New York Times hailed it as "smartly conceived and impressively executed…an age-old story that resonates with tragic meaning today."

Tickets for An Iliad are available online at LaJollaPlayhouse.org or by calling The Playhouse Box Office at (858) 550-1010.

Henry Woronicz has appeared on Broadway in Julius Caesar with Denzel Washington. He has acted and directed regionally at American Conservatory Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, American Players Theatre, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Delaware Theatre Company, The Shakespeare Theatre, CenterStage, Syracuse Stage, Arden Theatre Company, Hong Kong Repertory Theatre, Meadow Brook Theatre, Boston Shakespeare Company, as well as the Utah, Pennsylvania, Illinois, New Jersey and Alabama Shakespeare Festivals. His television credits include: Seinfeld, Ally McBeal, Cheers, Picket Fences, Third Rock from the Sun, Star Trek: Voyager and Law & Order. Mr. Woronicz served as Oregon Shakespeare Festival's resident actor/director from 1984 to 1991 and as its Artistic Director from 1991 to 1995. He was also Executive Producer of the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival in 2008/2009. He is currently the Head of MFA Acting at Illinois State University.

Denis O'Hare won the Tony, Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk Awards for his performance as "Mason Marzac" in the hit Broadway play Take Me Out. Other Broadway productions include Assassins (Tony nomination), Sweet Charity and Inherit the Wind, among others. An Iliad is his first collaboration and his debut as a writer for theatre. He has written two screenplays, as well as short stories and poetry. While at Northwestern University pursuing an acting degree, he followed the poetry writing program for two years and studied poetry under Alan Shapiro, Mary Kinzie and Reginald Gibbons. He has appeared on Broadway and Off-Broadway numerous times, as well as in many regional theatres. He has appeared in many films, including Milk, Michael Clayton, Charlie Wilson's War, A Mighty Heart, Duplicity, An Englishman in New York, 21 Grams, Garden State and Eagle. His television work includes roles on Brothers and Sisters, CSI Miami, all of the Law & Order franchises and on the hit series True Blood, as the Vampire King "Russell Edgington."

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