Aquila Theatre Receives NEH Grant to Bring Homer to Public Libraries

By James Devitt

The Aquila Theatre, the professional company in residence at NYU’s Center for Ancient Studies since 1999, has received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to bring the works of Homer and other classics to public libraries across the United States. The $292,000 grant is the largest that the NEH awarded to a New York State organization this year.
    The program, “Page & Stage: Theatre, Tradition, and Culture in America,” will bring live theatrical events, reading groups, and lectures to public libraries and is designed to inspire people to come together and read, see, and think about classical literature and how it continues to influence and invigorate American culture. The program will consist of free public performances of Homer’s Iliad by the Aquila Theatre Company at each library and an acting master class using Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors to demonstrate how these themes have been conveyed and are still relevant today. Programming will also include scholar-led reading groups, lectures, and post-performance discussions.
    The Aquila Theatre Company, the Urban Libraries Council (ULC), the American Philological Association (APA), and the Center for Ancient Studies at NYU will develop and guide this program that will forge a partnership between 16 public libraries with their local performing arts centers. “Page & Stage,” which will take place from March 2009 through May 2010, will include libraries in Brooklyn, Queens, White Plains, and at other venues across the U.S.
    “Aquila has been an important part of NYU’s Center for Ancient Studies, enriching our activities through its innovative performances and educational outreach,” said Matthew Santirocco, director of the center and dean of NYU’s College of Arts and Science. “This NEH grant will enable Aquila to develop new audiences around the country for the classics and for theatre.”
    For more on the Aquila Theatre, whose artistic director is Peter Meineck, a clinical assistant professor of classics at NYU, go to www.aquila
theatre.com/.