Aquila's THE POWER OF ILIAD TODAY Series Comes To NYC 4/10

AQUILA THEATRE (Peter Meineck, Artistic Director) will bring its "The Power of The Iliad Today" series to New York, in conjunction with their upcoming production of Homer's Iliad: Book One at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. This two part series kicks off here in New York Friday, April 10th with A Conversation with Chris Hedges: a post-performance discussion with Iliad: Book One director Peter Meineck and acclaimed writer Christopher Hedges. Up next will be The Philoctetes Project on April 13th featuring a reading of two Greek tragedies for an audience of combat veterans, followed by a roundtable discussion with Bryan Doerries, Edna Wells Handy, Peter Meineck and Brigadier General Loree Sutton.

Iliad: Book One will have its official opening night April 16th and continues though April 25th only. The cast of Iliad: Book One features John Buxton, Nathan Flower, Jeffrey Golde, Jay Painter, Natasha Piletich, and Vaishnavi Sharma.

The Iliad: Book One is part of the National Endowment of the Humanities sponsored Page and Stage program and partners Aquila at the Lucille Lortel Theatre with The Brooklyn Public Library, The Queens Public Library, The Newark Public Library, The White Plains Public Library and New York University's Center for Ancient Studies. Page and Stage is an in-depth partnership between the library and the theater based around Homer's Iliad that links public libraries and performing arts centers across America. The program's aim is to create innovative ways for theatre to reach new audiences. The Iliad has been a ten-year labor of love for Aquila. This new production harnesses Aquila's expert acting ensemble in a fiercely committed, bold and truly original theatrical experience.

In his acclaimed book, War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, Chris Hedges tells the story of being captured by the Iraqi Republican Guard during a Shiite uprising in Basra. Soldiers stripped him of his M-65 jacket, in the pocket of which was a copy of The Iliad. Christopher Hedges is a journalist and author, specializing in American and Middle Eastern politics and society, currently a senior fellow at The Nation Institute in New York City and a Lecturer in the Council of the Humanities and the Anschutz Distinguished Fellow at Princeton University. He spent nearly two decades as a foreign correspondent in Central America, the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. He has reported from more than 50 countries, and has worked for The Christian Science Monitor, National Public Radio, The Dallas Morning News, and The New York Times, where he was a reporter for 15 years. Hedges was part of The New York Times team that won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for the paper's coverage of global terrorism. In 2002, he received the Amnesty International Global Award for Human Rights Journalism.

Performances of THE ILIAD: BOOK ONE continue through April 25th, Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 8 pm, with matinees Wednesdays at 2 PM (April 8th, 15th & 22nd only), and Sunday April 19th at 1 PM. Running time is 75 minutes with no intermission. The Lucille Lortel Theater is located at 121 Christopher Street, between Bleecker and Hudson Streets. Tickets may be purchased at TicketCentral.com or by phone at 212/279-4200

The Philoctetes Project will feature Academy Award-nominated actor David Strathairn, Bill Camp, Elizabeth Marvel, and Adam Driver performing scenes from Sophocles' Ajax and Philoctetes, directed and translated by Bryan Doerries, for a mixed audience of combat veterans and civilians. The objective in presenting these plays is to de-stigmatize psychological injury and open a space for dialogue about the challenges faced by veterans today. This event explores themes relative to Aquila's Iliad: Book One, which is sponsored in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities "Page and Stage" program. "Page and Stage: The Power of The Iliad Today" is an in-depth partnership between the library and the theater based around Homer's Iliad that links public libraries and performing arts centers across America with the aim to create innovative ways for theatre to reach new audiences. Sophocles' Ajax and Philoctetes timelessly depict the psychological and physical injuries inflicted upon combat veterans by war. The performance will be followed by a roundtable discussion by Bryan Doerries, Edna Wells Handy, Peter Meineck and Brigadier General Loree Sutton.

Bryan Doerries is a New York based writer and director. Over the past decade, he has directed many of his own translations of Greek and Roman plays at theaters across America. Recent theatrical projects include: The Bacchae of Euripides; Sophocles' Ajax, Antigone, Women of Trachis, Bloodhounds, and Philoctetes; Seneca's Phaedra and Octavia; Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound; and Virgil's Aeneid, Book IV. He is the founder of The Philoctetes Project. For more information, please visit:www.philoctetesproject.org. Brig. Gen. Loree K. Sutton, who is the highest ranking psychiatrist in the U.S. Army, has served as director of the Defense Centers of Excellence (DCoE) for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury since November 2007. She also serves as special assistant to the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs. Sutton has more than 20 years of leadership experience encompassing a diverse mix of domains: civilian and military; combat and peacekeeping; command and staff; clinical and academic; and policy and education. NY Stare Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo appointed Edna Wells Handy Deputy Attorney General Administration. As the chief administrative officer for the Department of Law, she is responsible for personnel, budget, operations, and technology.

Peter Meineck has directed and/or produced over 40 productions in NY, London, Holland, Germany, Greece, Scotland, Canada, Bermuda, and the US in venues as diverse as Carnegie Hall, the ancient Stadium at Delphi, Lincoln Center, and the White House. Peter has published several volumes of translations of Greek plays including Aeschylus' Oresteia, which won the Lewis Galantiere Award for Literary Translation from the American Translators Association, Sophocles' Theban Plays (with Paul Woodruff) and Philoctetes and Ajax and Aristophanes' Clouds, Wasps & Birds. He has also written several literary adaptations for the stage including The Man Who Would Be King, Canterbury Tales, The Invisible Man, in addition to Catch-22. He also acts as a mythological advisor, most recently to Will Smith on I Am Legend.

Homer's Iliad is a 2700-year-old text originally created for performance that tells the story of the rage of Achilles, the cost of war, and his personal search for honor and meaning. Aquila Theatre brings this seminal work to vivid life in a production that seeks to restore the Iliad to its original home - the realm of the performer. Stanley Lombardo's striking American translation conveys the muscularity and sheer force of the ancient Greek while Anthony Cochrane's original score and Peter Meineck's direction pull the audience deep into this great epic work. Set in WWII, Aquila's production is inspired by the cover of Stanley Lombardo's translation, which is a photograph of the D-day landings, entitled, Into the Jaws of Death.

The Aquila Theatre Company was founded in London in 1991 by Peter Meineck and has been based in New York City since 1999. Aquila's mission is to bring the greatest theatrical works to the greatest number. Aquila presents a regular season of plays in New York, at international festivals, and tours to approximately seventy American towns and cities a year. Aquila also provides access to excellent theatre for people in under-served rural and inner city communities. The Aquila performance approach is a technique developed by Peter Meineck that combines text and physical action based in a theory of theatrical unity. The technique is aimed to create an aesthetic environment where the performer can create and recreate a role in a consistently changing theatrical atmosphere. Aquila Theatre broadens the classical cannon, collaborates across the performing arts, deepens a commitment to artistic excellence, teaches and exchanges idea and embraces new technology.

 

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