|
With
precision, sensitivity and unity of ensemble, The Aquila Theatre Company
articulates the human essence inherent in classical drama. Combining the
techniques of British and American theatre and following a philosophy of
theatrical utilitarianism, Aquila believes that the greatest works should be
seen by the greatest number.”
 Aquila
is a company of British and American artists dedicated to classical drama.
Founded in London in 1991 by Peter Meineck, Aquila is now based in New York
City. Aquila’s programs include:
A
MAJOR ANNUAL NATIONAL TOUR: Aquila is the foremost producer of touring classical
theatre in the United States, visiting 60-70 American cities per year. Aquila’s
2007/2008 Tour consists of: Shakespeare’s JULIUS CAESAR and Joseph Heller’s
stage adaptation of his novel CATCH-22. Aquila presented ROMEO & JULIET
internationally in the summer of 2007 at Shakespeare Festivals in Neuss,
Germany; Gyula, Hungary; and Gdansk, Poland in addition to the Festival of the
Agean in Syros, Greece and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Edinburgh, Scotland.
PRODUCTIONS IN NEW YORK CITY
Aquila is a major part of New York's theatrical landscape, producing a regular
season of plays. Last season Aquila presented Prometheus Bound and a
staged reading of Homer’s Iliad at Classic Stage Company.
EDUCATION PROGRAMS:
Aquila is dedicated to theatre art as education with an extensive program of
workshops, institutes, and a specialized company for young audiences. The
Aquila Theatre for Young Audiences Company will be taking a special educational
production of Shakespeare’s ROMEO & JULIET to New York City area schools in
conjunction with the Lincoln Center Institute in the spring of 2008. The
acclaimed Aquila education program is also being presented alongside the touring
program, developing new and non-traditional audiences for exciting, excellent,
and innovative classical drama. This past season Aquila started a program of
teaching Shakespeare at Frederick Douglas Academy in Harlem, NYC culminating in
a student production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The program will
continue with this current school year.
PROFESSIONAL TRAINING: Aquila trains professional artists in the techniques of
performing classical theatre. Aquila offers a rigorous weekly class (The Aquila
Acting Lab) as well as intensive courses in New York City.
COLLABORATIONS: Aquila partners with major American theaters in the
presentation of its work, and collaborates with notable artists from other
disciplines including dance, music, and opera. In recent seasons, Aquila has
collaborated with choreographer Doug Varone on its New York production of The
Invisible Man, with MidAmerica Productions on Cherubini’s opera MEDEE at
Carnegie Hall and performed Much Ado About Nothing at the White House.
For
further information, please visit:
www.aquilatheatre.com.
BACK
TO TOP
Aquila Theatre Company proudly
announces their
United
States Touring Programs 2008-2009
The
Iliad
By Homer
 There
can be no doubt that Homer’s epic story of Achilles and the Trojan War is one of
the greatest works in world literature. The Iliad has had a profound
influence on every generation since it was first performed by ancient Greek
bards in the Mediterranean over 2500 years ago. Described by The New York
Times as “A performance of staggering power,” the Aquila Theatre Company’s
production of Homer’s Iliad creates a “stunning, stirring, and memorable”
theatrical experience.
Nine years after the start of the Trojan War, the Greeks are still unable to
defeat their enemy. Agamemnon, the commander clashes with the best warrior,
Achilles over the division of war-prizes and is forced to give back the girl
Chryseis to her father after Apollo sends a terrible plague. Agamemnon claims
Achilles’ war-prize Briseis to save face and the furious Achilles withdraws from
the fighting and asks the Gods to turn the war against the Greeks.
Aquila’s innovative production tells the main parts of the story in an action
packed ninety minute evening using Stanley Lombardo’s excellent translation and
combining ritualistic movement, original music, and superb acting. This one of a
kind theatrical experience is both deeply engaging and accessible. As
Backstage raved, “If you see only one piece of theatre this year – see
Aquila’s Iliad”.
The Iliad: Book One was first performed by the Aquila Theatre Company at
Lincoln Center and the entire Iliad was performed as a fully staged reading at
Classic Stage Company in New York. The production design is based on the cover
photo of Stanley Lombardo’s 1998 Hackett Publishing translation, “Into the Jaws
of Death.”
by William Shakespeare
“The Classics made relevant with superb
acting and clever staging”- The New Yorker
 Aquila’s Comedy of Errors returns in a sensational new
revival, celebrating ten years since it first toured the United States. The
Aquila Theatre Company’s imaginative and exuberant production of
Shakespeare’s classic comedy is a “must-see” for newcomers to Shakespeare
and Bard enthusiasts alike. Aquila’s smash hit played extended engagements
in New York, Boston, Los Angeles and, Europe.
The Comedy of Errors is one of
Shakespeare’s most vibrant and sparkling comedies. The shrewd and inventive
plot relates an intricate and energetic story of two pairs of identical
twins in the same household separated by a devastating shipwreck. But as
this delightful comedy unfolds, all is not what it seems. Shakespeare’s
remarkable staging propels a glorious, farcical romp set in the sumptuous
surroundings of the ancient city of Ephesus. Brilliant comedy abounds in
this witty tale of mistaken identity, assumed personas, hilarious
machinations and whimsical family ties. Shakespeare expertly weaves these
boisterously entertaining strands together allowing his audience to stay one
step ahead of his characters and laugh heartily at the outrageous results.
The
Aquila Theatre Company has won international praise for their innovative
presentations of classical drama. Aquila’s unique and ingenious staging of
classical comedy have received both prestigious international prizes and
high praise from audiences, critics and scholars. Aquila has represented the
National Endowment of the Arts at the White House performing Shakespeare for
the President and First Lady and in the summer of 2007, made their Edinburgh
Festival debut. The New York Times wrote of Aquila's brilliant
Comedy of Errors: "No one who sees the rousing production by the
excellent Aquila Theater Company will forget a whit of it."
Utilizing the skills of the Aquila Theatre Company's unique
British/American ensemble, Aquila will present The Comedy of Errors
with passion, vigor and skill. With an amazing visual production, clever
movement, superb costumes, brilliant lighting and a specially commissioned
musical score, the Aquila Theatre Company's wonderful Comedy of Errors
will once again prove to be an unforgettable theatrical experience.
BACK
TO TOP
United
States Touring Programs 2007-2008
Julius Caesar
“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to
praise him;
The evil that men do lives after
them,
The good is oft interréd with
their bones…”
Act III, Scene II Julius Caesar
 Aquila Theatre Company’s
production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar will follow the epic story of
the rise and fall of one of the world’s most notorious leaders. Set in a world
of political intrigue and strained domestic relationships, the production
explores the moral and political dilemma of Marcus Brutus. Should he join
the conspiracy to assassinate Caesar, conquering hero and his trusted friend?
Or, should he allow one man’s tyrannical ambition to overcome the very ideals
that Rome was founded upon? The choice that Brutus makes has the power to
destroy the old world order and to ignite a fierce civil war.
 Aquila’s production asks the
audience to consider the price of democracy and freedom and the
consequences that can befall a society when it is asked to defend its core
beliefs.
Julius Caesar
will be staged using Aquila’s renowned company aesthetic – excellent acting,
crystalline verse-speaking, original music and innovative conceptualization and
design. It is the company’s mission to bring “the greatest work to the greatest
number.” With Julius Caesar, Aquila will bring one of Shakespeare’s
most relevant and timely works to vibrant life in a production that is visceral,
challenging and, above all, entertaining.
Catch-22
By Joseph Heller
 The Aquila Theatre Company’s dynamic, timely and
hilarious new production of Joseph Heller’s own stage adaptation of his classic
novel, CATCH-22, will explore the important and timely questions of the
absurdity of war and its impact on American society. Heller’s highly allegorical
and wonderfully surreal text provides an excellent dramatic vehicle for raising
these issues at this time. Set on the island of Pianosa, off the coast of
Italy, CATCH-22 finds World War II bombardier Yossarian caught in a world
of bureaucratic absurdity and irrational madness. Determined to keep the
squadron active and on the front line, Yossarian’s superiors abuse their
authority by increasing the number of required flying missions, making it
impossible for anyone to complete these missions and be discharged from duty.
Yossarian’s efforts to plead insanity fail, as his superiors realize that active
avoidance displays a healthy mental state, stating "a concern for one's own
safety in the face of dangers that are real and immediate” is “the process of a
rational mind." Yossarian avoids the missions by creating ridiculous excuses,
but in doing so prolongs his duty as the missions continue to accrue, and as he
says “complete strangers keep trying to kill me!” A maze of inter-related
“Catch-22’s” develop as the play unfolds.
 CATCH-22 is one of the greatest modern
American novels and remains incredibly popular throughout the world. Joseph
Heller had actually written this stage version of CATCH-22, but perhaps
due to the huge popularity of Mike Nichols’ film version, Heller’s own script
received only one small production in 1971 at the John Drew Theater in East
Hampton, New York. With the blessing of the Heller estate and Joseph Heller’s
son Ted, Aquila’s production will be the first-ever professional production to
tour nationally, and is planned to be the very first major London and New York
productions.
Joseph Heller himself was a bomber pilot, surviving
over 60 sorties as an airman in World War II. He created his novel and his play
in response to his own experience. He also considered CATCH-22 to be a
modern day Iliad, with its anti-hero Yossarian as a new Achilles. With this in
mind, Aquila approaches Heller’s work with an eagerness to explore the themes of
the insanity of war in theatrical form. Heller found a personal connection
between his work and the world of The Iliad, and this marriage of artistry and
experience is analogous to Aquila’s theatrical experience in working on Greek
classical texts, Shakespeare and literary adaptations. Aquila’s particular
aesthetic is surreal drama, incorporating physical theatre, creative multiple
role-assignment, and acute attention to language. These techniques complement
Joseph Heller’s brilliant play, and with this new production Aquila seeks to
provoke intense thought and discussion on the nature of war and its absurdities.
CATCH-22 is a great American classic, and the
term itself has become enshrined in our modern language. In Aquila’s important
new production, Joseph Heller’s wonderful words will be heard for the very first
time on stages all across the United States.
BACK
TO TOP
Aquila offers a
full range of participatory workshops, seminars, and class visits designed to
help illuminate different aspects of the company's work. Aquila draws on the
wide base of experience of its company members. Below is a partial listing of
the current and past residency activities; please contact Baylin
Artists for descriptions.
The Oral
Tradition - The Art of Storytelling
Shakespearean Comedy
Comic Influences - From Athens and Rome to Elizabethan London
The Mask - Comedy and Tragedy
Reading Shakespeare
Truth and Imagination
Physical Theatre
Voice and Text
Class Visits
Seminars
BACK
TO TOP
The Aquila Theatre
Company is pleased to offer special multi-day residencies with a team of company
members. These allow the presenting organization to offer a series of
interactive masterclasses in their community prior to the arrival of the full
company.
Aquila draws on the
wide base of experience of its company members. In addition to their extensive
professional expertise, the members have been trained at some of the US and UK's
best drama schools, including: The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, The Royal
Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, The London Academy of Dramatic Art, The
Webber Douglas Academy, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Tisch School of the
Arts, Stella Adler Conservatory, National Shakespeare Conservatory and the
Guildford School of Dramatic Art.
Two members of the
Aquila residency team will conduct masterclasses in the areas of Drama/Theater,
English, Literature, Movement and Classics. Specific masterclasses on
physicality, Shakespeare, Greek drama & comedy, and masks may also be
integrated into the residency curriculum. Each masterclass may be tailored for
middle, high school, and college-age students as well as adults and can be
offered at the basic, intermediate, or advanced levels.
Each masterclass
runs 60-90 minutes. The ideal class size is 20-25 participants. Classes may be
repeated to accommodate larger groups. A large open space is the ideal location,
although some masterclasses may be appropriate for a classroom setting. The
number of masterclasses taught on each day will be mutually determined with a
maximum of 3 masterclasses taught by an individual on any day. Some classes
require both members of the team.
BACK
TO TOP
Please
contact Baylin Artists
for technical information.
BACK
TO TOP
Back to Top
|
