Geva's Fielding Studio Series to Continue with AN ILIAD

The Fielding Studio Series continues on February 4 with the award-winning play An Iliad, written by Lisa Peterson and Denis O'Hare, based on Homer's The Iliad, translated by Robert Fagles and directed by Jerry Genochio.

The familiar tale of gods and goddesses, undying love and endless battles blends with contemporary stories of war and revenge in this captivating retelling of Homer's epic classic. The lone Poet has told this story for centuries, conjuring the heroes and battles of different cultures and eras. Now in the shadow of war in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, he recounts a sweeping and unforgettable story of human loss and folly that resonates across three millennia.

Lisa Peterson and Denis O'Hare have taken 15,000 lines of poetry and condensed it into 90 minutes of spellbinding theatre. An Iliad premiered in Seattle 2010 and had its New York premiere at the New York Theatre Workshop in 2012. An Iliad is the recipient of the Joseph Jefferson Award (Chicago), five Craig Noel Awards (San Diego), Gregory Award (Seattle), Drama Desk nomination (NYC), the Obie Award (NYC) and the Lucille Lortel Award (NYC).

Making their Geva Theatre Center debuts in An Iliad are Kyle Hatley as The Poet with live music performed by Raymond Castrey, who is also the music director of the play. Kyle Hatley is a theatre artist that used to play football. From 2008 until 2014, he served as the Associate Artistic Director of Kansas City Repertory Theatre, where he directed, performed and produced alongside Artistic Director, Eric Rosen, and Producing Director, Jerry Genochio. After joining his wife in Chicago in August of 2014, he served as Resident Director for the 50th Anniversary Season at Kansas City Repertory Theatre where he first performed An Iliad in early 2015. Other KC Rep acting credits include Happy in Death of a Salesman, Caleb in The Whipping Man, The Gentleman Caller in The Glass Menagerie and Ellard Simms in The Foreigner. Other regional acting credits include Eddie in Hurlyburly at The Living Room Theatre and Edmund in King Lear at Heart of America Shakespeare Festival. Chicago acting credits include Danny Casolaro in Danny Casolaro Died for You at TimeLine Theatre Company, Shane Mungitt in Take Me Out at Steppenwolf, and Zack in The Last Supper at InFusion Theatre Company. KC Rep directing credits include Nathan Louis Jackson's Broke-ology, When I Come to Die and the world premiere of Sticky Traps. Others at the Rep include Carousel, Little Shop of Horrors, Circle Mirror Transformation, The Borderland and A Christmas Carol (2010-2013). Regional directing credits include Master of the Universe, The Death of Cupid, Carousel and Titus Andronicus (The Living Room Theatre); The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (Kansas City Actors Theatre at The Living Room); Ben Franklin's Apprentice and the world premiere of Melissa Cooper's Red Badge Variations (Coterie Theatre); Hamlet (Two Third's Theatre); The Darwin Project (Friends of Chamber Music at the Kauffman Performing Arts Center); And Baby Makes Seven (Playhouse on the Square); Seascape (Theatre Memphis). TV credits include Chicago Fire, Prison Break, In an Instant and As the World Turns. Mr. Hatley is a 2011 Charlotte Street Foundation Generative Artist Fellow and a board member and artistic associate of The Living Room Theatre. Raymond Castrey is a percussionist and multi-instrumentalist who makes music and soundscapes for theatre, dance, and multimedia projects. He has been a guest artist with the New Arts Festival of Ft. Myers, Florida, the Sun Valley Institute for the Arts and Humanities, and the American College Dance Festival. He has worked with Gash/Voigt Dance Theatre, the Parsons Dance Company, Dayton Contemporary Dance, Aha! Dance Theatre, Nebraska Wesleyan University, Springfield Contemporary Theatre, SoMar Dance Works, and Kansas City Repertory Theatre, among others. Mr. Castrey is an emeritus member of the Theatre and Dance Department at Missouri State University, where he spent 29 years creating, playing, and teaching music. He was associated with the Missouri Fine Arts Academy for 20 years, the past four as director of the program. In addition to his theatre work, he leads music workshops and drum circles for schools, community organizations, and other groups, and plays in the quartet Distant Relative from his home in Springfield, Missouri.

An Iliad is directed by Jerry Genochio. The design team includes John Haldoupis (scenic design), Georgiana Londré Buchanan (costume design), Grant Wilcoxen (lighting design) and Josh Horvath (sound design).

The 2015-2016 Fielding Studio Series is supported in part by the Gouvernet Arts Fund at The Community Foundation. An Iliad is produced with support from Co-Producer Ricoh USA.

An Iliad begins previews on February 4, opens February 5

and runs through February 21.

For further information, photographs or to arrange interviews, please contact:

Dawn Kellogg, Communications Manager, (585) 420-2059.

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

Preview: Thursday, February 4 @ 7pm

Opening: Friday, February 5 @ 7pm

Performances: Saturday, February 6 @ 2:30pm (Open-Captioned performance*) and 7:30pm

Saturday, February 7 @ 3pm

Tuesday, February 9 @ 7pm

Wednesday, February 10 @ 7pm

Thursday, February 11 @ 7pm

Friday, February 12 @ 7pm

Saturday, February 13 @ 2:30pm and 7:30pm

Sunday, February 14 @ 3pm

Wednesday, February 17 @ 7pm

Thursday, February 18 @ 7pm

Friday, February 19 @ 7pm

Saturday, February 20 @ 2:30pm and 7:30pm

Sunday, February 21 @ 3pm

Ticket Prices: All Seats $35.

Reservations: (585) 232-GEVA (4382), Website: www.gevatheatre.org

Location: Geva Theatre Center, 75 Woodbury Blvd, Rochester, NY 14607

*Open captioning is provided with support from Hearing Loss Association of America - Rochester Chapter

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