Comments on: Page and Stage Discussion

By: Jessica Lehman

Jessica Lehman — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:41:55 +0000

I attended Prof. Connolly’s talk at the White Plains Public Library, where she discussed ten reasons to read Homer. I took a classics class in college and always wanted another chance to take a look at that material, but haven’t really had the time because of my job. When I overheard a co-worker talking about the library event, I knew that I’d wind up kicking myself if I didn’t go. I’m always trying to find things for my sixth-grade son and I to do together, and he’s always reminding me that I’m out of touch. Things weren’t any different when I dragged him along with me, and I think I was just as shocked as he was when he wound up enjoying himself as much as I did. Prof. Connelly knows her stuff, and she’s very conscious about engaging her audience, keeping them interested and included in the topic. It was great to revisit Homer after such a long time, and now my son wants to learn more about the Trojan War.

By: Elizabeth Brierly

Elizabeth Brierly — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 18:44:19 +0000

I am a junior in high school who hopes to be a theater actor one day. When I was a freshman, our teacher would break our class into groups that would have to put on mini-productions of plays or myths we were studying, then were graded on how strong our performances were. To this day, nothing in school has ever excited me as much or motivated me to learn in the way that acting out that material did. Unfortunately for me, my dad’s job moves him all over the country, and I was forced to switch high schools. And even though by now I’ve definitely adjusted to my change in schools, I still feel like my academic experience is lacking. There’s no drama program at my current school, and really no interest in theater outside of studying a few big required plays for English classes.

I went to the acting workshop at the Flushing Library to fill this void. I love acting and I want to learn as much about it as I can, but lately I’ve felt like I have little to no opportunity to do that. Since I haven’t had any ‘real’ acting experience, I was pretty nervous when I first showed up, but the actors we worked with were incredibly nice, friendly people. They coached us and gave us some acting tips and we read a bit from Shakespeare’s Macbeth. This was particularly great, because I’d never even read the play at all, and it was so much fun to be a part of ringing it to life under professional guidance. I had a great time, learned a lot of information that I probably never would have in school, and I’m also more confident about my talents as an actor.

By: John Hall

John Hall — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 18:02:06 +0000

Over the summer I attended a reading of the Iliad with Stanley Lombardo at the Lawrence Public Library. I’m a senior in high school and thinking about being a classics major in college, so I am pretty passionate about classical literature and mythology. I knew Stanley Lombardo’s name because I had used his translations for research papers, and was kind of starstruck to see him speak in person. He is just as eloquent of a speaker as he is a translator, and I wound up having a great time at the event. Mr. Lombardo’s talk was incredibly informative and interesting, and his knowledge on the topic really stuck with me. When Achilles came up in my World Lit. class a few days ago, it was nice to have that information on hand. Going to that reading group definitely indulged my nerdiness, and I’m still so glad I had the chance to do it.

By: Tony Latronica

Tony Latronica — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 18:47:04 +0000

Back in July I took part in a reading group for the Iliad at the Lawrence Public Library. To be honest, the only reason I wanted to go was because the Iliad was one of the required books on my summer reading list, and I thought that going to the event would make it easier for me to get through such a long and heavy text. When I was a freshman in high school, my English class had to read the Odyssey, and my teacher made it seem like such a chore to get through because he only talked about how important it was historically. He didn’t give
us anything to get excited about, and I didn’t even finish it. Now, as a senior, I’m thinking about giving it another shot just because I had so much fun with the Iliad reading group. It was really eye-opening to realize how much emotion and excitement there can be in a classical text that I just assumed would be stale and boring, and I actually had a lot of fun discovering Homer with my group!

By: MLG

MLG — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 08:31:11 +0000

I watched a performance today at LAPL. The play was superb except for the heart of Book I: Achilles and Agememnon: the actors had no understanding or presence (ouch).
Their scene may be asking too much from this group – after all, we are talking about a defining moment in the history of man/literature/spirit: Achille’s Wrath (some say he represents our young soul) blistering Agememnon (representing the real ways of the world, the matrix, the system, etc) as his true love is muscled/pissed away to be just another whore to the “king”…where is the justice of Zeus?! …what IS Truth?!
To top it off, both actors seemed to go “Shatner” on their delivery…no no no.
Oh well, the rest of the play was excellent. Thanks

By: Gary Foiles

Gary Foiles — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 19:18:26 +0000

I just finished participating in the acting workshop and then attending the brilliant production of the The Iliad by the Aquila Theatre at the Topeka Shawnee County Public Library in Topeka, Kansas, on February 21st. The workshop was presented in an exciting and enthusiastic way by accomplished professionals in a way that was accessible to young and old alike. The performance that followed was breathtaking. This ancient play was brought vividly to life in such an immediate and personal way, full of action, tenderness, anger, tragic loss, heartfelt cries for help, interspersed with perfectly timed comic relief that the audience came away enthralled as if they had witnessed a wartime drama taken from only a generation ago instead of three millenia. God bless these actors and the tireless people who brought them to us.

By: Brett J. Martin

Brett J. Martin — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:56:22 +0000

The performance on Saturday at the Topeka Shawnee County Public Library was excellent. The library was expecting around 150 participants, and more than 250 showed up for the performance. Members from the community of all races/ethnicities, genders, and ages came out for the show.

Over 60 students and parents from our small classical school were in attendance. We have been talking about the performance in our classes all week.

The show was well-performed, and the actors were warm and engaging after the show. Prof. Pamela Gordon was an excellent discussion moderator. I would love to see similar performances become annual events at our public library. Classic pieces like the Iliad still draw a crowd!

Our students want to go to the Lawrence Public Library in April to see the performance again and to hear Prof. Stan Lombardo talk about identity.

Great program and show! Thanks to NEH and the Aquila Theater Company!