Featured Events

The Philoctetes Project: Theatre of War

Monday April 13, 2009 8:00 PM

Aquila Theatre presented The Philoctetes Project featuring Academy Award-nominated actor David Strathairn, Bill Camp, Elizabeth Marvel, and Adam Driver who performed scenes from Sophocles’ Ajax and Philoctetes, directed and translated by Bryan Doerries, for a mixed audience of combat veterans and civilians. The objective in presenting these plays was to de-stigmatize psychological injury and open a space for dialogue about the challenges faced by veterans today. The event explored themes relative to Aquila’s Iliad: Book One, which is sponsored in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities “Page and Stage” program. “Page and Stage: The Power of The Iliad Today” is an in-depth partnership between the library and the theater based around Homer’s Iliad that links public libraries and performing arts centers across America with the aim to create innovative ways for theatre to reach new audiences. Sophocles’ Ajax and Philoctetes timelessly depict the psychological and physical injuries inflicted upon combat veterans by war. The performance was followed by a roundtable discussion by Bryan Doerries, Edna Wells Handy, Peter Meineck, Major Joseph Geraci and Brigadier General Loree Sutton.