The Aquila Theatre Company will deliver three performance of Homer’s The Iliad as part of DU’s Newman Center Presents series.
The first performance will be March 27 at 7:30 p.m. in the Byron Theatre. Prior to the performance, the company will give a master class for theater students at 2 p.m. The remaining performances will take place on Saturday, March 28, at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
In the play, actors portray the gods and heroes of The Iliad wearing uniforms of the World War II era. The play was inspired by the famous photograph “Into the Jaws of Death,” which was taken by a member of the Coast Guard on D-Day.
“It’s a different way to give people an experience of The Iliad,” says Stephen Seifert, executive director of the Newman Center. The Byron Theatre, Seifert adds, will also allow for a more intimate interaction between the audience and the performers.
Peter Meineck founded the New York-based Aquila Theatre Company in 1991 to bring the greatest theatrical works to the most people. The company performs in more than 60 cities in the U.S. and abroad every year.
Linda Bensel-Meyers, associate professor of English, will give Friday’s “Behind the Curtain” lecture at 6:30 p.m.; Victor Castellani, associate professor of classics and humanities, will give the lecture for Saturday’s matinee performance at 1:30 p.m. The final performance’s lecture will be given by members of the Aquila Theatre Company at 6:30 p.m.
Tickets for the event, on sale now, are $38 for general admission; ticket prices include parking. Tickets can be purchased through Newman Center (http://www.du.edu/maps/pac.html), Ritchie Center (http://www.du.edu/events/tickets.html) and Ticketmaster (http://www.ticketmaster.com) box offices. For more information, call the Newman Center at 303-871-7720.