Aquila Theatre

The Aquila Theatre was founded in London in 1991 by Peter Meineck and has been based in New York City since 1999. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=The Aquila Theatre Company: Classics On A Budget. |url=http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_46059.asp |quote=The Aquila Theatre Company, formerly out of London, now based in New York, has made a name for itself by presenting classical theatre pieces in scaled-down versions that really don’t lose much of their overall potency. |publisher=The Chattanoogan |date=January 27, 2004 |accessdate=2008-04-11 ] cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Classic Comeback The Aquila Theatre Of London, Returning To Northeastern Pennsylvania, Proves Americans Are Hungering For The Greek Classics And Shakespeare. |url= |quote=Touring theater groups in the United States are more likely to offer Andrew Lloyd Webber than Anton Chekhov. But a British company, based in South Carolina, of all places, is bucking the trend. For six seasons, The Aquila Theatre of London has staged tours of classical theater, bringing professional productions of works like "The Iliad" and "Julius Caesar" to towns where they might otherwise not be seen. Last year, the group presented ... |publisher=The Times Leader |date=February 26, 1999 |accessdate=2008-04-11 ] Aquila's mission is to bring the greatest theatrical works to the greatest number and presents a regular season of plays in New York and at international festivals. Education programming is an important component of Aquila's mission. The Shakespeare Leaders is a bold and innovative program in Harlem, expanding in Fall 2008 to the Bronx, through which students learn and perform Shakespeare. Aquila provides access for people in under-served urban and rural communities, touring to around seventy American towns and cities a year. Aquila is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.

Aquila is currently touring "Julius Caesar" and Joseph Heller's "Catch-22". cite web |url=http://www.aquilatheatre.com |title=Aquila Theatre |accessdate=2008-04-11 |quote= |publisher=Aquila Theatre ]

Past productions

"The Iliad" , "Prometheus Bound" with David Oyelowo, "Romeo & Juliet", "The Canterbury Tales", "Much Ado About Nothing", "Hamlet", "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde", H G Wells' "The Invisible Man", with choreographer Doug Varone, "The Comedy of Errors", "Twelfth Night", A Very Naughty Greek Play, "Oedipus at Colonus", with Bill Pullman, "The Man Who Would Be King", "Othello" (2004), [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Streamlined 'Othello' comes alive. The Aquila Theatre Company brings vitality to Shakespeare's themes of racism, sexism and redemption. |url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/577087631.html?dids=577087631:577087631&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Mar+13%2C+2004&author=Daryl+H.+Miller&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=THEATER+REVIEW%3B+Streamlined+'Othello'+comes+alive%3B+The+Aquila+Theatre+Company+brings+vitality+to+Shakespeare's+themes+of+racism%2C+sexism+and+redemption.&pqatl=google |quote=Four hundred years melted away Thursday night, as Shakespeare's tragedy seized an audience at Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts with as much immediacy as if it were the newest offering at the local multiplex. The production of "Othello" came courtesy of Aquila Theatre Company, on a tour supported by the National Endowment for the Arts' Shakespeare in American Communities program. |publisher=Los Angeles Times |date= |accessdate=2008-04-11 ] "Agamemnon", with Olympia Dukakis, "The Importance of Being Earnest", "A Midsummer Night's Dream", "The Tempest", "The Wrath of Achilles", "Cyrano de Bergerac", "King Lear", "Oedipus the King", "The Odyssey", "The Birds", "Macbeth", "The Wasps", "Coriolanus", "Ajax", "The Frogs", and "The Clouds".

New York season

For the 2008/2009 New York season Aquila will be presenting Joseph Heller's "Catch-22", Homer's "Iliad", a New Translations Reading Series exploring the works of contemporary American translators, and The Romeo & Juliet Project.

Educational initiatives

Aquila is the professional company in residence at the Center for Ancient Studies at New York University. While touring, Aquila presented over 120 educational offerings across the country in 2007-08 season: special school performances, talk-backs, master classes, workshops, and on-site school visits, reaching 26,000 middle and high school students. In 2006, Aquila developed the Shakespeare Leaders program with support from the Charles Hayden Foundation. In conjunction with the Lincoln Center Institute for Arts & Education, Aquila's Young Audience company plays at 35-40 schools in New York City.

Collaborations

Aquila works with artists from many other disciplines such as film, TV, opera, classical music and dance, including Olympia Dukakis, Bill Pullman, Mikis Theodorakis, Peter Tiboris, Doug Varone and David Oyelowo.

External links

* [http://www.aquilatheatre.com Official website]

References