Court Theatre, under the continuing leadership of Charles Newell, Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director, and Executive Director Angel Ysaguirre, announces the streaming release of An Iliad by Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare, based on Homer’s The Iliad. The production, filmed in the Oriental Institute at The University of Chicago, will be available for digital access from March 3 through March 31, 2021.
“I’m ecstatic to be able to share An Iliad at the OI with patrons digitally,” says Charles Newell, Court Theatre’s Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director, who directed the play. “Collaborating with the artists and curators of the OI to craft this dynamic production was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and the ability to stream the play virtually in lieu of a live performance offers a way to honor that hard work while simultaneously reaching a broader audience.”
Remounted three times across Court’s history, An Iliad continues to showcase the power of classic theatre to speak to the current moment. Interrogate how rage and division reverberate throughout civilization in this streaming release of Court Theatre’s limited-engagement, site-specific production of An Iliad at the Oriental Institute. The production takes audiences on a journey through ancient societies and cultural artifacts in a thrillingly visceral performance from actor Timothy Edward Kane. This professionally-captured, multi-camera stream of the play allows you to experience this one-of-a-kind production at home, which Rick and Brenda McCain of Chicago Now hailed as “a superb collaboration of theater and history in a site-specific platform that is sure to bring chills to the historian that resides in all humanity.”
The original design team includes Todd Rosenthal (scenic design), Rachel Healy (costume design), Keith Parham (lighting design), Andre Pluess (sound design), and Kate Ocker (stage manager).
SPECIAL EVENT:
In addition to the streaming release, Court is also offering a behind-the-scenes conversation on March 25, 2021, between director Charles Newell and actor Timothy Edward Kane about the process of remounting An Iliad in such a unique setting. Patrons who previously purchased tickets to a live performance of An Iliad during 2020 will be able to access the stream and the special event free of charge.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
CHARLES NEWELL (Director) is the Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director of Court Theatre. He was awarded the SDCF Zelda Fichandler Award, “which recognizes an outstanding director or choreographer who is transforming the regional arts landscape through singular creativity and artistry in theatre.” Charlie has been Artistic Director at Court Theatre since 1994, where he has directed over 50 productions. He made his Chicago directorial debut in 1993 with The Triumph of Love, which won the Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Production. Charlie’s productions of Man of La Mancha and Caroline, or Change have also won Best Production Jeffs. Other directorial highlights at Court include The Adventures of Augie March, All My Sons, The Hard Problem, Man in the Ring; One Man, Two Guvnors; Satchmo at the Waldorf; Agamemnon; The Secret Garden; Iphigenia in Aulis; M. Butterfly; The Misanthrope; Tartuffe; Proof; Angels in America; An Iliad; Porgy and Bess; Three Tall Women; Titus Andronicus; Arcadia; Uncle Vanya; Raisin; The Glass Menagerie; Travesties; Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; The Invention of Love; and Hamlet. Charlie has also directed at Goodman Theatre (Rock ‘n’ Roll), Guthrie Theater (The History Cycle, Cymbeline), Arena Stage, John Houseman’s The Acting Company (Staff Repertory Director), the California and Alabama Shakespeare Festivals, Juilliard, and New York University. He has served on the Board of TCG, as well as on several panels for the NEA. Opera directing credits include Marc Blitzstein’s Regina (Lyric Opera), Rigoletto (Opera Theatre of St. Louis), Don Giovanni and The Jewel Box (Chicago Opera Theater), and Carousel (Glimmerglass). Charlie was the recipient of the 1992 TCG Alan Schneider Director Award, and has been nominated for 16 Joseph Jefferson Director Awards, winning four times. In 2012, Charlie was honored by the League of Chicago Theatres with its Artistic Achievement Award.
TIMOTHY EDWARD KANE (The Poet) made his thirteenth appearance with Court Theatre in An Iliad at the OI. Other Chicago credits include Buried Child, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, and Arms and the Man (Writers); Faceless, Lost in Yonkers, and She Stoops to Conquer (Northlight); Blood and Gifts (TimeLine); The North Plan (Steppenwolf Garage), and 21 productions at Chicago Shakespeare including Tug of War: Civil Strife and Henry IV Parts 1 & 2 (CST & RSC). Regional credits: The Mark Taper Forum, Notre Dame Shakespeare, Peninsula Players, and the Illinois Shakespeare Festival. TV: Chicago Fire (NBC), Empire (FOX). Mr. Kane is married to actress Kate Fry and has two sons.
TICKET INFORMATION:
Streaming tickets are on sale now: $15 (1 viewer under 30), $25 (1 viewer), $40 (2+ viewers). Group discounts available by emailing Matthew Sitz, msitz@uchicago.edu. On-demand performances are available for streaming March 3 through 31, 2021. Once a ticket buyer begins watching, they will have 72 hours to complete viewing. For more information, call the box office at (773) 753-4472 or visit CourtTheatre.org.
An Iliad at OI was sponsored by The University of Chicago Women's Board.
Court Theatre is the professional theatre of the University of Chicago, dedicated to innovation, inquiry, intellectual engagement, and community service. Court endeavors to make a lasting contribution to classic American theatre by expanding the canon of translations, adaptations, and classic texts. The theatre revives lost masterpieces; illuminates familiar texts; explores the African American theatrical canon; and discovers fresh, modern classics. Court engages and inspires its audience by providing artistically distinguished productions, audience enrichment activities, and student educational experiences. In all of this work, we are committed to recognizing, addressing, and eradicating racism, as we strive to better serve our South Side community.
The Oriental Institute, an interdisciplinary research center devoted to the study of the ancient Middle East, celebrated its Centennial in 2020. Over the course of one hundred years, the OI has changed how humans understand their own history through groundbreaking work in archaeology, linguistics, and historical and literary analysis - work that continues today in Chicago and across the Middle East.