Aquila Theatre to Celebrate 25th Anniversary with New Productions in New York

Aquila Theatre, one of the foremost producers of classical theater in the United States, will celebrate its 25th Anniversary with a three-week celebration featuring productions of Romeo and Juliet, Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Sophocles' Philoctetes.

Performances in rep will begin April 6, 2016 at the brand new GK Arts Center (former home of St. Ann's Warehouse), through April 23.

This unique triple bill will mark Aquila's 25th anniversary. Founded by Peter Meineck in London in 1991, Aquila moved to the US in 1997. The first production in New York in 1999, The Iliad: Book One at Lincoln Center's Clark Studio, was praised by the New York Times for "ensemble precision, sensitivity and unity of Aquila [that] is exciting to experience." Aquila's pioneering hallmark was to stage bold productions of classical works with small casts of elite highly trained actors, doubling, tripling and even quadrupling in roles, a device now more common in the theater world. In that vein, two New York productions of Shakespearean comedies, Much Ado About Nothing and Comedy of Errors, both ran for over a year in the city, with Much Ado being one of the first downtown shows to re-open after 9/11 and then being invited to a perform at the White House.

Since 1991 Aquila has played to over 750,000 people in 47 states and 12 countries with 19 shows in New York City at venues such as 45 Bleecker, Manhattan Ensemble Theatre, Theater Row, Classic Stage Company, BAM Fisher, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. The New York Times War Correspondent Chris Hedges joined Aquila on tour in 2001 describing the works as "building powerful ensemble productions and the kind of well-disciplined troupes that are increasingly rare in Britain and the United States."

Aquila's past artists have include David Oyelowo (Prometheus Bound) and Olympia Dukakis (Agamemnon) and many have gone on to contribute to many of the current leading theater groups in the United States. Aquila is also known for its extensive public programming and work with veterans. In 2008, the company received a Chairman's Special Award from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the largest grant ever awarded by that agency, $800,00o for a national program called Ancient Greeks/Modern Lives. That work continues with the Warrior Chorus also supported by the NEH, which forms part of the Philoctetes production included in this remarkable anniversary season.