Modern culture gets classical in “Iliad”

Aquila Theatre Company takes the phrase ‘adventurous pairing’ to new heights. Forget the… Aquila Theatre Company takes the phrase ‘adventurous pairing’ to new heights. Forget the reckless combination of peanut butter and jelly and the wildly successful union of crackers and cheese. Even melon and prosciutto appear mundane, for Aquila has combined not just elements, but genres. With their production of Homer’s ‘The Iliad,’ Aquila’s activism, education and philosophy join hands with entertainment to create a theatrical hybrid only Girl Talk might have envisioned. All of the dialogue is taken directly from the book and is not adapted. ‘We couple attention to the text with movement sequences set during the Normandy Invasion on D-Day,’ said assistant artistic director Kimberly Donato. The unique staging of the work breaks down barriers of cadence and language that might prevent the audience from engaging in the play. Aquila’s staging seeks to harness the work’s enduring emotional power, using the text to ‘guide the stage action,’ said Donato. ‘It’s actually a very theatrical work, and so the movement sequences that we use convey a lot of emotion.’ In addition, the company uses Stanley Lombard’s ‘very active translation of the work,’ said Donato. ‘The Iliad’ is a war story, and in the current political climate of long wars exacerbated by human foibles, the production is potentially controversial. But Donato states that while issues come up, ‘We’re not trying to put a political agenda on it. We’re trying to share a beautiful piece of classical work and allow the audience to come to their own conclusions.’ Aquila’s artistic director Peter Meineck wrote in an e-mail, ‘During wartime it is important to raise questions about the meaning of war.’ The decision to set ‘The Iliad’ in WWII was sparked by Lombard’s cover ‘mdash; a photograph of the D-Day landings called ‘Into the Jaws of Death.’ Though the use of WWII soldiers to portray the tale could be controversial, Meineck, an ex-U.K. marine, is sensitive to the pain of that period of history. ‘It’s very gentle,’ said Donato, adding, ‘It’s a wonderful way to engage with the story.’ Additionally, Aquila has a strong following of veterans. The New York-based nonprofit company revives and presents classical works of theater, making particular efforts to reach underserved and rural audiences, while maintaining the Bentham philosophy of Hedonistic calculus. Jeremy Bentham, a 19th century philosopher, argued that our actions should bring the greatest good to the greatest many. Aquila’s mission mimics Bentham ‘mdash; according to its Web site, its goal is also to ‘bring the greatest works to the greatest many.’ Enter the first pairing: Hedonism, the pursuit of pleasure, derives from the Greek hedonismos, meaning ‘delight.’ While many audiences might perceive classical theater to be the antithesis of hedonism, Aquila has managed to pair the two. Meineck is a classicist and translator. ‘He’s incredibly knowledgeable,’ said Donato. ‘The company came about in part because working in that medium, it’s only natural to want to see the plays staged.’ But as any eighth-grade class tackling ‘Romeo and Juliet’ will tell you, making classical works accessible and enjoyable to the modern reader or viewer is no easy task. Fortunately for audiences, Meineck explained, ‘Classical works become classics because they are the best artistic works, and they still speak to us.’ Donato added, ‘Classical theater is the foundation for everything that comes after. The themes are universal and always will be.’ ‘The Iliad’ tells the tale of the Trojan War, focusing on the struggle within the Achaean camp, events that took place 10 years after the conflict’s beginning. The very first lines of the epic poem invoke one of humankind’s fiercest emotions: Rage-Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus’ son Achilles, murderous, doomed, that cost the Achaeans countless losses, hurling down to the House of Death so many sturdy souls, great fighters’ souls, but made their bodies carrion, ‘Most people perceive ‘The Iliad’ as a poem or a book,’ wrote Meineck, ‘but it was originally a performance text.’ In fact, the skill of writing was lost in Greece in the centuries after the Trojan War. Essentially, that means that a written work of nearly 800 pages was once encapsulated entirely within someone’s brain and could be shared and performed over the course of several nights. Aquila will have only a few hours to present the work. ‘We will attempt to tell the whole first book in three 50 minute parts,’ said Donato. ‘I think that we do brave theater,’ said Donato. ‘We explore works from classical drama that are very true to their original form and modern in their design. And they are always accessible to all ages and communities.”