COURT THEATRE REVIVES THE AWARD-WINNING AN ILIAD BY DENIS O’HARE AND LISA PETERSON DIRECTED BY ARTISTIC DIRECTOR CHARLES NEWELL November 13 – December 8, 2013
Court Theatre continues its 2013-2014 season with the revival of the OBIE Award-winning play An Iliad byDenis O’Hare and Lisa Peterson, directed by Artistic Director Charles Newell and starring Timothy Edward Kane. An Iliad will run November 13 – December 8, 2013 at Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Avenue.
Timothy Edward Kane returns to reprise his jaw-dropping, award-winning performance in this highly anticipated revival of Artistic Director Charles Newell’s critically acclaimed 2011 production. A one-man adaptation of Homer’s Iliad created by Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare (TV’s True Blood), An Iliad returns Homer’s epic poem to the voice of the lone poet as he recounts a story of human loss and folly that echoes across three millennia of war and bloodshed. An Iliad will once again illuminate this ancient classic by taking a harrowing look at the human cost of war.
Also returning to the production is the creative team which includes: Todd Rosenthal (scenic design), Rachel Healy(costume design), Keith Parham (lighting design) and Andre Pluess (sound design).
About the Artists
Timothy Edward Kane (Poet) returns to Court Theatre having previously appeared in The Illusion, Wild Duck, Titus Andronicus, Uncle Vanya, The Romance Cycle, and Hamlet. Chicago credits include: The North Plan (Steppenwolf Garage),Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Arms and the Man (Writers’ Theatre), Rock ‘n’ Roll (Goodman Theatre), The Miser, She Stoops to Conquer – After Dark Award (Northlight Theatre), The Comedy of Errors, Love’s Labors Lost, King Lear, and ten other productions (Chicago Shakespeare). Regional credits include work at The Mark Taper Forum, Notre Dame Shakespeare, Peninsula Players, and the Illinois Shakespeare Festival. Education: BS, Ball State University; MFA, Northern Illinois University. Mr. Kane is married to actress Kate Fry.
Charles Newell (Artistic Director/Director) has been Artistic Director of Court Theatre since 1994, where he has directed over 30 productions. He made his Chicago directorial debut in 1993 with The Triumph of Love, which won the Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Production. Directorial highlights at Court include James Joyce’s “The Dead,” Angels in America,An Iliad, Porgy and Bess, Three Tall Women, The Year of Magical Thinking, The Wild Duck, Caroline, Or Change, Titus Andronicus, Arcadia, Man of La Mancha, Uncle Vanya, Raisin, The Glass Menagerie, Travesties, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Hamlet, and The Invention of Love. Charlie has also directed at the Goodman Theatre (Rock ‘n’ Roll), the Guthrie Theater (Resident Director: 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 is the recipient of the 1992 TCG Alan Schneider Director Award. He has served on the Board of Theatre Communications Group, as well as on several panels for the National Endowment for the Arts. Opera directing credits include Marc Blitzstein’sRegina at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Rigoletto at Opera Theatre of St. Louis. Charlie is a multiple Joseph Jefferson Award (Chicago’s highest theatrical honor) nominee and recipient.
Denis O’Hare (Co-Playwright) has appeared in numerous Broadway productions including Richard Greenberg’s Take Me Out, Assassins, Sweet Charity, Inherit the Wind, Racing Demon and Cabaret. In 2003, he won a Tony Award for Best Actor for his performance in Take Me Out. In 2004, he played Charles J. Guiteau in the Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins, for which he was nominated for the Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical Tony Award. He later won the 2005 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical for his role as Oscar Lindquist in the Broadway revival of Sweet Charity. His feature film credits include The Anniversary Party, 21 Grams, Garden State, Derailed, Michael Clayton, A Mighty Heart, Half Nelson, Milk, Edge of Darkness and Charlie Wilson’s War.O’Hare’s television credits include Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, andBrothers & Sisters. He has also appeared in a recurring role as Judge Charles Abernathy on the television drama series The Good Wife. Most recently, O’Hare was cast as Russell Edgington in True Blood. He collaborated with Lisa Peterson to create An Iliad.
Lisa Peterson (Co-Playwright) directed The Model Apartment by Donald Margulies, Slavs! by Tony Kushner, Traps and Light Shining in Buckinghamshire by Caryl Churchill (Obie Award for Direction), The Waves adapted from Virginia Woolf (two Drama Desk nominations) and The Scarlet Letter adapted by Phylis Nagy. Regional credits include Collected Stories by Donald Margulies (DramaLogue Award), Ikebana by Alice Tuan (DramaLogue Award), The Batting Cage by Joan Ackermann, Tough Choices for the New Century by Jane Anderson, Trip’s Cinch by Phylis Nagy, Good Person of Setzuanadapted by Tony Kushner, Triumph of Love adapted by James Magruder, Arms and the Man by G.B. Shaw, The Swan by Elizabeth Egloff, A Moon for the Misbegotten by OíNeill, My Children! My Africa! by Athol Fugard, Fefu and Her Friends by Irene Fornes and Reckless by Craig Lucas. A graduate of Yale College, Peterson is a member of the Ensemble Studio Theatre and the Drama Department. She is currently Resident Director at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles.
Title: An Iliad
Directed by: Charles Newell
Adapted by: Denis O’Hare and Lisa Peterson
Translation: Robert Fagles
Featuring: Timothy Edward Kane
Dates: Previews: November 13 – November 15, 2013
Press opening: Saturday, November 16, 2013 at 8 PM
Regular run: November 17 – December 8, 2011
Schedule: Wed & Thurs: 7:30 PM
Fridays: 8:00 PM
Saturdays: 3:00 PM & 8:00 PM
Sundays: 2:30 PM & 7:30 PM
Location: Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave.
Tickets:
$40-$60 regular run
Box Office: Located at 5535 S. Ellis Avenue, Chicago; (773) 753-4472 or onlinewww.CourtTheatre.org
Now in its 59th season, Court Theatre is guided by its mission to discover the power of classic theatre. Court endeavors to make a lasting contribution to American theatre by expanding the canon of translations, adaptations, and classic texts. Court revives lost masterpieces, illuminates familiar texts, and distinguishes fresh, modern classics. Court engages and inspires its audience by providing artistically distinguished productions, audience enrichment activities, and student educational experiences. Court Theatre is the professional theatre in residence at the University of Chicago continuing to discover the power of classic theatre.