Download an iliad - Capital Repertory Theatre

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
MARGARET HALL
Assistant to the Artistic Director
[email protected]
518.462.4531 x 410
KATHERINE STEPHENS
Education Program Manager
[email protected]
518.382.3884 x 168
2013–14 SEASON PRODUCTION STUDY GUIDE
an iliad
TABLE OF CONTENTS
3
About Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Attending a performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
About the Playwrights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Homer: Who Was He? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Synopsis of the Iliad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Cast of Characters in the Iliad. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Historical Context. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10–18
Literary Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Technically Touring A Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
The Production: Who’s Who… . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Classroom Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22–23
Resources Consulted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Teacher Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
theRep’s Mission in Action! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
A Letter from our Education Department . . . . .
Portions of this study guide were adapted from the
New York Theatre Workshop’s “The Brief” on An Iliad,
created by the NYTW Education Department.
CAPITAL REP
ON-THE-GO!
SCHOOL TOUR
We come to YOU!
An Iliad
(Recommended for Grades 9-12)
By Lisa Peterson & Denis O’Hare
Translation by Robert Fagles
In-School Tour
NOV 11 – 23, 2013
Harriet Tells If Like It Is
(Recommended for Grades 3-6)
By Karen Jones Meadows
In-School Tour
FEB 3 – MAR 1, 2014
(No shows FEB 17-21)
The Remarkable and
Perplexing Case of
Henry Hudson
*Recommended grades 3-6
By Maggie Mancinelli-Cahill
& Maureen Aumand
In-School Tour
MAR 24 – APRIL 12, 2014
CAPITAL REP
2013-14 SEASON
JOIN US FOR OUR 33RD SEASON OF SERIOUSLY GOOD THEATRE
VENUS IN FUR • By David Ives
Sep 27 - Oct 20, 2013
A CHRISTMAS CAROL • Adapted by Patrick Barlow
Nov 22 - Dec 22, 2013 • Recommended for grades 3-12
THE MOUNTAINTOP • By Katori Hall • Jan 17 - Feb 9, 2014
Recommended for grades 9 & 12
GYPSY • Book by Arthur Laurents
Music by Jule Styne, Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Mar 14 - Apr 13, 2014 • Recommended for grades 9-12
THE GOD GAME • By Suzanne Bradbeer
May 2 - 25, 2014 • Recommended for grades 9-12
2
FALL 2013
Dear Educator:
Welcome to Capital Repertory Theatre!
Here at theRep we are excited to provide
young people with an opportunity to
experience a live theatrical performance.
We are thrilled that you will be attending one
of the On-The-Go! performances of An Iliad!
We hope you will find this guide to be a useful tool. You have permission to reproduce anything
in this guide for use in your classroom, i.e. historical context or the themes.
Capital Rep performances are likely to generate questions and opinions among your students.
Our hope is that you will join us for a talkback with the cast following the performance where you
and your students can share your questions and reactions with the performers.
The arts provide young imaginations with stimulation, points of reference, and intellectual
resources for the mind and spirit. Our goal is to make live theatre attendance possible for all
students in the Capital Region. Over 16,000 Capital Region students attended Student Matinees
and Capital Rep On-The-Go! School Tour performances last season. We hope to continue to grow
and serve the needs of the Capital Region education community.
Let us know how you are using theatre in the classroom! Your success stories help us to keep
the program funded. We love to receive copies of lesson plans, student work related to our
performances and your letters. These are important testimonials to the value of the arts in
education.
Fill Out the Teacher Evaluation and get a FREE pair of tickets to Capital Repertory Theatre!
Complete the evaluation form at the back of the guide; it will help us to continue to provide
programs that serve the needs of Capital Region students – and you will receive a pair of tickets
to a future Capital Rep production.
We look forward to hearing from you!
With deepest gratitude,
MARGARET HALL
Assistant to the Artistic Director
[email protected]
518.462.4531 x 410
KATHERINE STEPHENS
Education Program Manager
[email protected]
518.382.3884 x 168
3
ABOUT US
Capital Repertory Theatre is a non-profit professional producing theatre. In its 33-year history,
Capital Rep has produced more than 5,000 performances for the people of the Capital Region.
A member of LORT (League of Resident Theatres), Capital Rep strives to bring quality work
that explores the essence of the human condition through the stories of people, events, and
phenomena that shape our contemporary lives. Theatre, at its best, entertains, cajoles and
inspires by engaging the heart and mind through its most powerful ally – the imagination.
There are two basic types of theatre companies: producing and presenting. Capital Rep is a
producing theatre. The theatre hires a director and designers for the set, costumes, lights, and
sound. The Theatre’s Artistic Director and the director select appropriate actors for all the roles in
the play. Then they all come to Albany, where the play is built and rehearsed.
In addition to the theatre space, Capital Rep has a scene shop where sets are built, a costume
shop where costumes are constructed and cared for, offices where the administrative staff of the
company works, a rehearsal hall where the shows are rehearsed and housing facilities for actors.
The resident staff of the Theatre work with visiting artists to put the production together.
In contrast, presenting theatres host shows that have been designed, built and rehearsed
elsewhere. Shows of this kind are frequently presented by a theatre company at many different
theatres regionally, nationally or even internationally over an extended period of time. What you
will see at Capital Rep or on our On-The-Go! tours is unique to Capital Rep where it was built. No
one from anywhere else will see this production just as you see it!
4
ATTENDING A PERFORMANCE
Being a member of an audience is an important job. Live theatre couldn’t exist
without you! That job carries with it some responsibilities. Follow these suggestions
in order to have the best theatre experience possible!
BRING WITH YOU • Ideas, imagination, an open mind, observation skills and a sense of wonder.
LEAVE BEHIND • Cell phones, pagers, pen lights, food and drink (except at intermission) and
anything else that might distract you, the performers or other members of the audience.
THINGS TO DO BEFORE A PERFORMANCE • Learn about the show you are going to see,
arrive on time, find your seat, use the restroom.
DURING A PERFORMANCE
PLEASE DO • Applaud, laugh, pay attention and notice little details, think about questions you
would like to have answered by the actors after the show, stay in your seat until intermission and
the end of the show.
PLEASE DON’T • Talk, sleep, eat or drink, distract others, or exit the theatre during the performance.
2013-14 EDUCATION SEASON
THE MOUNTAINTOP
JAN 17–FEB 16
A CHRISTMAS CAROL
NOV 22–DEC 22
THE GOD GAME
MAY 2–JUN 1
GYPSY,
A MUSICAL FABLE
MAR 14–APR 13
5
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHTS
LISA PETERSON
Co-Author and Original Director of An Iliad. A
California native, Lisa Peterson, is a two-time Obie
Award winning director, for An Iliad and Caryl
Churchill’s Light Shining in Buckinghamshire, both
at the New York Theatre Workshop. Her work has
been seen on and off-Broadway, as well as at
many notable regional theatres. Along with her
Obie Awards, Ms. Peterson has received multiple
Drama Logue Awards as well as two Drama Desk
nominations. In addition to her undeniable skill
as a freelance director, Peterson has worked
extensively in New Play Development: Sundance,
The Playwright’s Center, New Dramatists, Young
Playwrights’ Festival, Taper New Works Festival,
Audrey Skirball-Kenis, New York Stage and Film,
and the Royal Court London. Ms. Peterson is a
Graduate of Yale College.
DENIS O’HARE
Co-Author and Original Poet in An Iliad. A Kansas
City, Missouri native, Denis O’Hare is an American
actor noted for his award winning performances
in Take Me Out and Sweet Charity as well as the
HBO television show True Blood. His career has
spanned theatre, film and television. O’Hare won
a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured
Actor in a Play for his performance in Richard
Greenberg’s Take Me Out, as well as 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. O’Hare
went to his first audition in 1974, gaining a chorus
part in a community theatre production of Show
Boat, and in 1980 went on to Chicago where he
studied theatre at Northwestern University.
IT’S ALL GREEK TO ME:
TRANSLATING HOMER
Translators – particularly translators of poetry – do
not simply translate the exact meaning of each and
every word. Rather, they must attempt to maintain
the voice of the original poet: the rhythm, rhyme
scheme, plays on words, alliteration, etc. In some
cases, certain words in the source language may not
have equivalents in the target language. Translators
must also take into account any difference in cultural
practice or idiom which may cause significant
confusion for readers; in other words, the best
translator is bicultural as well as bilingual.
Robert Fagles, whose translation of the Iliad
was the basis of Peterson and O’Hare’s An Iliad,
prefaces his work by explaining the balancing act of
translating Homer’s epic poem:
Obviously at a far remove from Homer, in translation I
have tried to find a middle ground (and not a no man’s
land, if I can help it) between the features of [Homer’s]
performance and the expectations of a contemporary
reader: Not a line-for-line translation, my version
of the Iliad is, I hope, neither so literal in rendering
Homer’s language as to cramp and distort my own –
though I want to convey as much of what he says as
possible – nor so literary as to brake his energy, his
forward drive – though I want my work to be literate,
with any luck. For the more literal approach would
seem to be too little English, and the more literary
approach seems to little Greek. I have tried to find a
cross between the two, a modern English Homer.
RESEARCH AND WRITE!
Taking into account the underlined portions of the passage above: students are to pick an area of the
world and research their fairy tales, as well as the culture itself. Students should pay particular attention to
the things within the fairy tale / foreign culture that are not prevalent in US culture and would need to be
clearly explained for an American audience or reader etc. Students should then select one specific fairy
tale and adapt it into another form – an adapted short story; a short play; a poem; a short film (use those
smart phones for good).
Adaptation (n) – something that is changed or modified to suit new conditions or needs.
Translation (n) – the rendering of something into another language or from its own into another language.
6
HOMER: WHO WAS HE?
Good question. It’s such a good question, in fact, that scholars have
given it its own name: the Homeric Question. Many scholars have
devoted entire careers to defending their explanation of Homer’s
identity and method of writing. The truth is, we can’t say for sure that
Homer even existed; or, that if he did, that he was a he and not a she
or even a they. Many theories have been proposed to explain the
origin of the Iliad and the Odyssey and the identity of their creator.
Here are a few:
•
The Ancient Greek historian Herodotus believed that Homer
lived and wrote in the 9th century BCE – some 400 years before
Herodotus himself came along, and around 300 years after the Trojan
War is thought to have taken place. The Homeric scholar Aristarchus
of Alexandria argued that Homer lived some 140 years after the
Trojan War, making Aristarchus’ Homer about 300 years older than
Herodotus’ Homer.
•
Up until the 18th century CE, scholars generally believed that
Homer was blind and that he – like scholars who wrote about him –
composed his work by writing it down.
•
Joseph ben Matthias (1st century CE) was one of the first scholars to refute the theory that Homer
wrote down his poems. Homer’s poems, he argued, were “transmitted by memory” and “not unified
until much later.”
•
In the 17th century CE, philosopher Giamattista Vico posited that Homer did not exist. Homeric
poems, he believed, were the product and legacy of the entire Greek people.
•
In his Essay on the Original Genius of Homer (1769), Englishman Robert Wood proposed that
Homer was completely illiterate.
•
Assuming that Homer was indeed illiterate, German scholar F.A. Wolf averred that the poet did not
leave behind the Iliad and the Odyssey in the long forms we recognize today; rather, Wolf contended that
Homer composed short ballads that were easier to memorize and which were compiled long after
Homer’s death. Through the 19th and 20th centuries, scholars attempted the much-debated process of
analyzing the Iliad and the Odyssey to reveal the demarcations of the original ballads. Because no one
could agree where individual poems began and ended, every scholar’s divisions were different and the
subject of much disagreement.
•
Perhaps most notably, the 20th century American scholar Milman Parry demonstrated that
the Iliad’s use of a set of recurring epithets was most likely part of a system for oral storytellers who
improvised within a set meter. According to Parry, the epithets provided the poets with phrases that they
knew fit metrically into a line and could use while improvising a poem in front of a live audience.
In An Iliad we are interested in the idea of a ‘collective Homer.’ “I liked the idea that Homer was probably
not one person in history. I think ‘Homer’ is what we call everybody who did this job. I liked the idea that
to become Homer, you simply had to have the desire, the ability to memorize and the talent to tell the
story – and you were Homer. I started thinking of it as a coat that you could wear, that anyone could put
the coat on and they were Homer. It’s not just that they were reciting it. They were Homer.”
–Lisa Peterson, first rehearsal at NYTW (New York Theatre Workshop)
7
SYNOPSIS OF THE ILIAD
The word “Iliad” means “a poem about Ilium” which
is the Latin name for Troy, an ancient city located in
modern-day Turkey. The Iliad is an epic poem by Homer
that tells the story of a span of about 40 days that took
place during the ninth year of the Trojan War, which was
a long and bloody conflict between the Trojans and the
Greeks (Achaeans).
The story of the Iliad starts with a disagreement between
Agamemnon, the supreme commander of the Achaean
army, and Achilles, it’s greatest warrior. At this time,
the common practice for armies was to take tributes,
or spoils of war, from areas that they had conquered
and plundered. Tributes include both material wealth
and people, particularly women. The Achaean army
The Wrath of Achilles;
has just taken tributes from the areas surrounding Troy,
Michel Drolling, 1819
and Agamemnon claims a girl who is the daughter of a
priest of Apollo, the god of music and prophecy. When the priest attempts to ransom his daughter and
Agamemnon refuses, Apollo becomes angry and punishes the Achaean army with a plague. The Achaeans
beg Agamemnon to return the girl, but he still will not relent. Eventually he agrees to give her back if he
is compensated with another girl. Achilles objects violently, arguing with and insulting his commanding
officer. Agamemnon responds by demanding that Briseis, the young women Achilles has taken as tribute,
be given to him. Achilles has come to care deeply for Briseis, and while Agamemnon is given what he
demands, Achilles is furious and refuses to fight for the Achaeans anymore.
Without their greatest warrior, the fighting begins to go badly for the Achaeans. As Achilles broods, his
lifelong companion Patroclus tries to convince him to rejoin the battle. When this fails Patroclus offers to
wear Achilles’ armor into battle in an attempt to frighten the Trojans with the thought that Achilles has
returned. This offer is embraced by Achilles.
Meanwhile, Hector, the eldest son of King Priam of
Troy, attempts to defend his city, a task which is made
difficult by intervention of Athena, the goddess of
wisdom and war, on the side of the Achaeans. Hector
tries to confront Achilles but his armor falls off revealing
Patroclus. Furious, Hector kills Patroclus and strips
Achilles’ armor off him and wears it himself.
Achilles is deeply aggrieved and enraged by the death
of his closest friend at the hands of his mortal enemy.
He finally re-enters the battle, after receiving new armor
made by Hephaestus, the god of fire. He then hunts
Hector down on the battlefield, finds him wearing his
own armor, and kills him. Still furious and vengeful, he
ties Hectors body to the back of his chariot and drags it
around Patroclus’ burial site for ten days.
Grieving, elderly King Priam sets out from Troy to retrieve Hector’s body. Aided by Hermes, the god of
messengers, he crosses the battle lines and begs Achilles to let him bury his son. Achilles, taking pity on
King Priam, relents and promises to halt the fighting for eleven days to allow a proper burial.
8
CAST OF CHARACTERS IN THE ILIAD
The Achaeans / Greeks
The Trojans / Dardans
ACHILLES The greatest warrior in
the Greek camp, Achilles is a DemiGod: Half-man Half-god. After a
disagreement with Agamemnon,
the supreme commander of the
Greek army, he returns to his tent,
refusing to continue fighting.
HECTOR Prince of Troy, Hector
is the greatest fighter for Troy in
the war, and Supreme Commander
of the Trojan Army. Hero of Troy.
Eldest son of Priam. Married to
Andromache. Father of Astyanax.
He tames horses.
AGAMEMNON Supreme
Commander of the Greek army.
Kidnaps the daughter of a Trojan
priest as the spoils of war, angering
the god Apollo. When he is forced
to giver her back, he takes a girl
promised to Achilles.
PARIS Brother of Hector, younger
son of Priam. Stole Helen from
Menelaus, setting the war in
motion yet manages to stay out of
the war. Handsome and cowardly.
PATROCLUS Best friend and
brother –in-arms of Achilles. He
tries to convince Achilles to rejoin
the fight Instead, he takes Achilles’
armor and fights the Trojans in his
place.
MENELAUS King of Sparta,
husband of Helen, brother of
Agamemnon.
HELEN “…the face that launched
a thousand ships…”; one of
Hectors sisters; stolen from
Menelaus (stolen from Greece)
HEPHAESTUS God of fire. Makes a
new set of armor for Achilles.
ATHENA Goddess of wisdom, war,
justice. Fights on the side of the Greeks.
HERA Wife of Zeus, queen of the gods.
Defend the Greeks.
APOLLO God of music and prophecy.
Punishes the Greeks with a plague when
Agamemnon takes the daughter of one
of his priest.
PRIAM The elderly King of Troy,
the last King of Troy. Father of
Hector and Paris.
HECUBA Queen of Troy, wife of
Priam, mother Hector and Paris.
ADROMACHE Wife of Hector
and mother of the infant Astyanax.
Achilles killed her entire family.
The Greeks believed in multiple
gods who often got involved and
interfered with the affairs of men.
Many gods took sides in the Trojan
War. Here are some of the gods
you’ll hear mentioned in An Iliad:
HERMES God of messenger and
mischief. Helps guide Priam across the
battlefield of Troy.
ARES God of war. Fights on the side of
the Trojans.
ZEUS God of the sky, and king of the
gods. Youngest son of Cronus and
Rhea, he was the supreme ruler of
Mount Olympus and of the Pantheon of
gods who resided there.
9
A POST SHOW DISCUSSION
READ!
*From the McCarter Theatre Center’s 2010
Study Guide for An Iliad
The Iliad
by Robert Fagles
“More About Homer” - An Iliad co-author, Lisa Peterson,
has said the following about her play: “This Iliad is more
about Homer than the Trojan War.”
War of the Worlds
by H.G. Wells
• Ask students to consider what Peterson might have
meant by that comment.
• Suggestion: Have them consider the Poet in the
production of An Iliad to be Homer himself. What is it that
the Poet seems to want? Why does he tell the story?
War and Peace
by Leo Tolstoy
Catch-22
by Joseph Heller
The Red Badge of Courage
by Stephen Crane
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
THE TROJAN WAR:
HISTORY OR MYTH?
The Greek Ships Sail for Troy as
imagined in the 2004 film Troy
The story of the Trojan War has been a part of the public
sphere of knowledge for thousands of years. Today, it is
likely that if you stopped a random person on the street
and asked what they knew about this ancient conflict,
they would, at the very least, be able to recall something
about Helen of Troy and the Trojan Horse. Some might
be able to go further and talk of the war’s heroes on
both sides or the horrors of the sack of Troy. The Iliad,
arguably the most famous work about the Trojan War,
does not portray any of these famous events or even
the majority of the war’s ten-year duration. Instead, it
presents a span of about 40 days that took place towards
the war’s end. Yet, despite the short amount of time
presented, Homer’s epic manages to both capture the
tragedy of the bloodshed and transport “the ancient tale
of this particular Bronze Age War…into a sublime and
sweeping evocation of the devastation of all war of any
time.” (Caroline Alexander, The War that Killed Achilles)
Map of the Ancient City of Troy
10
HERE IS THE STORY OF
THE TROJAN WAR;
ACCORDING TO LEGEND:
The gods and goddesses of the Greek world were having a celebration. The goddess of discord, Eris, was
not invited, which angered her. Out of spite, she tossed a golden apple inscribed with “to the fairest” into
the middle of the feast. Hera, Athena and Aphrodite each claimed the apple as their own and asked Zeus
to judge between them. He refused and instead gave the task of judgment to Paris, a prince of Troy. Each
of the goddesses offered a bribe, but it was Aphrodite’s promise of the love of the most beautiful woman
in the world to which Paris succumbed.
The most beautiful woman in the world was Helen of Sparta, who would later be called Helen of Troy, and
she was already married to Menelaus, the king of Sparta. Different versions of the story claim that Paris
either stole or seduced her; and brought her back to Troy with him along with riches from her husband’s
palace.
Helen, before marrying Menelaus, had many suitors, each of whom pledged to defend her if necessary.
Many of these former suitors were now kings and rulers of Greece and so joined with Menelaus and his
brother Agamemnon, King of Mycenae, to go to Troy and get Helen back. And so began the Trojan War.
After more than nine years of fighting, the war was ended by a trick. The Greeks pretended to sail back
to Greece leaving behind a giant wooden horse. The Trojans wheeled the horse into their city and began
celebrating the end of the war. That night, the Achaeans, who had hidden inside the horse at the bidding
of Odysseus, leapt out and opened the gates of Troy to the rest of the Achaean army. The city was sacked,
its men killed and its women taken as slaves by the victors.
11
TIMELINE OF ANCIENT HISTORY
There is a great expanse of history which the average person would consider “Ancient.”
Throughout our time in school, we tend to study civilizations separately from one another. For
this reason, it is quite possible to leave school with a sense of what each individual civilization
did, but without a clear sense of where these cultures and events existed in time relative to one
another. Below is a timeline of 30,000 years of history preceding the birth of Jesus. The dates are
approximate as many come from archeology and legend rather than solid record.
GREECE
ELSEWHERE
30,000 BCE
CAVE PAINTINGS done in CHAUVET CAVE, France.
These are the oldest paintings known to man.
2,550 BCE
THE GREAT PYRAMID at GIZA built
2070 BCE
XIA DYNASTY, the earliest recorded in CHINA, founded
1500 BCE
OLMEC Civilization emerges in Mexico
1250 BCE
THE TROJAN WAR Troy destroyed
1200 BCE
Decline of MYCENAEN Civilization,
the Achaeans of the Trojan War
1000 BCE
Reign of KING DAVID in JUDEA
776 BCE
First OLYMPIC GAMES
753 BCE
Legendary Founding of ROME by ROMULUS and REMUS
850-750 BCE
HOMER tells the story of THE ILIAD
700 BCE
First GREEK ALPHABET developed.
The ILIAD is written down.
650 BCE
SPARTA reorganized as a City-State
centered on MILITARY POWER
12
TIMELINE OF ANCIENT HISTORY
CONTINUED
GREECE
ELSEWHERE
534 BCE
TRAGEDY introduced to the CITY DONYSIA,
the Athenian Festival in honor of Dionysus
509 BCE
The ROMAN REPUBLIC Founded
500 BCE
SIDDHARTHA GUATAMA who will
be known as BUDDHA is born.
499-449 BCE
THE PERSIAN WAR
484 BCE
HERODOTUS born
454 BCE
EURIPEDES first presents work at
the CITY DIONYSIA in ATHENS
399 BCE
TRIAL and DEATH of SOCRATES
534 BCE
TRAGEDY introduced to the
CITY DONYSIA, the Athenian
Festival in honor of Dionysus
221 BCE
QIN DYNASTY, the oldest dynasty of the
CHINESE EMPIRE, founded
44 BCE
JULIUS CEASAR assassinated
27 BCE
AUGUSTUS founds the ROMAN EMPIRE
13
WAR…THE WARS OF HUMAN HISTORY
“If we took any period of a hundred
years in the last five thousand, it has
been calculated; we could expect, on
average, ninety-four of these years to
be occupied with large scale conflicts
in one or more parts of the world.”
- Caroline Alexander, Preface to
The War that Killed Achilles
Tragically, war seems to be a constantly recurring act
of the human race. As of 2012, the United States has
been at war for the past eleven years, long enough
that many young people may not remember a time
when the country was not at war. Lisa Peterson, the
co-author and original director of An Iliad, said that,
as long as war continues, the story of the Iliad must
keep being told. In An Iliad, the Poet lists seemingly
every war, taking us on a gut-wrenching journey
through this history of violence.
RESEARCH, WRITE & PRESENT
From the list – a variety of the wars mentioned in An Iliad – students are to research and present facts
about a war they have never heard of [dates; countries involved; combat locations; casualties; cause of the
war; result of the war; etc…]. Post presentations, discuss the commonalities and differences of the wars
presented; as well as the commonalities and differences that exist with the current war in Afghanistan.
QUESTIONS TO SPUR CONVERSATION:
What circumstances led to the war[s]?
What circumstances resulted from the war[s]?
Why do they think wars keep happening?
Has humanity learned anything from war?
Do they think there will ever be a time when all of humanity will be at peace?
Conquest of Sumer
War of the Priests
Saudi-Yemeni War
Conquest of Sargon
Muscovite-Lithuanian Wars
Cuban or Tibetan Revolution
Punic War
The Mughal Conquest of India
Bay of Pigs
Gallic War
War of the two brothers
Sand War
Yellow Turban Rebellion
Pequot War
Six-Day War
War against the Moors in
North Africa
Cromwell’s conquest of
Ireland or Scotland
Laos
First Siege of Constantinople
The 335 Years’ War
Arab-Chinese War
Second Cherokee War
Saxon Wars
French or Haitaian Revolution
Viking raids across Europe
Colombian, Chilean, Peruvian,
and Ecuadorian Wars of
Independence
Zanj Rebellion in southern Iraq
Children’s Crusade
First - Ninth Crusade
Norman invasion of Ireland
Mongol invasion of China,
Russia or Afghanistan
The Hundred Years’ War
Polish-Lithuanian-Teutonic War
Lower Canada Rebellion
Upper Canada Rebellion
The Boer Wars
Third Anglo-Afghan War
Irish War of Independence
Japanese Invasion of Manchuria
Cambodia
The Troubles
Prague Spring
Nicaraguan Revolution
Salvadoran Civil War
Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan
Contra war in Nicaragua
Second Sudanese Civil War
Iran-Iraq War
Falklands War
Israeli Invasion of Lebanon
U.S. Invasion of Grenada or
Panama
First Intifada
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Chechnya
Kosovo
Rwanda
Darfur
Pakistan
Lebanon
Kenya
Zimbabwe
Congo
Gaza
Somalia
Georgia
Libya
Syria
14
THE CHANGING NATURE AND RULES OF WAR
War has been a fact of human history as far back as
we can report. Whether for the purpose of expansion,
defense, religion or revenge, man has found himself time
and again led into armed conflict with his neighbors.
Over time, the manner in which war is conducted has
changed in many ways. New weapons and technology
have been developed, increasing both the accuracy and
deadliness with which we may attack one another. These
improvements in technology have in turn changed the
shape of battlefields and strategy. World War I brought
trenches, poison gas, and machine guns.
Today, both low-tech Improvised Explosive Devices
(IEDs) and extremely complex long-range missile defense
systems play major roles in the global conduct of war.
A Greek Soldier killing a Trojan during
the Trojan War, Vase ca 480 BCE
In ancient Greece there was no formal code of conduct in
war. Instead, war was regulated by custom - bound tightly with the understanding of honor and religious
beliefs and seems to have been generally observed, although no codified manner existed to enforce
adherence beyond the retribution of the gods themselves. The records we have which address this code
mostly come from the Classical Period in Greece.
As the traditional codes of war were derived from religious belief, they focused on the maintenance of
places, people and traditions sacred to the gods rather than on the human treatment of those thrown in
the way of the lighting. Damaging temples or other religious places or interfering with priests was not
permitted, as we see in Agamemnon’s punishment for taking the daughter of a priest of Apollo. The
return of the bodies of the slain was also required, though again this derived from a religious requirement
of burial. Humane treatment of those captured, whether civilian or military, was not required. In fact,
those captured were considered the property of the victors. Upon capturing a city, slaughtering the male
population and taking the rest of the population as slaves, as happened in Troy, was the norm.
Over time, the focus of war regulation has shifted from the defense of religious property and tradition to
the defense of people and their livelihoods. As our ability to kill one another has become more efficient,
mechanized and far-reaching, so has our desire to regulate the destruction we are permitted to cause.
Beginning in the 19th century, a series of international law codes focusing on humanitarian concerns
were established to govern the manner in which war may be waged and the treatment required for those
affected by it. The most famous and wide-reaching of these is the Geneva Convention, which sets out
international human rights regulations. The Geneva Convention has been updated several times to reflect
protection of wider groups affected by war.
The International Committee of the Red Cross is an international, neutral
human rights organization. It works to help those affected by armed conflict
and other forms of violence. The work of this organization, and others like it, is
closely bound to the international code of human rights set out in the Geneva
Convention, which also guarantees the safety and neutrality of the organization
and those working for it in war zones.
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THE CHANGING NATURE AND RULES OF WAR
CONTINUED
The international codes governing the rights and treatment of those in war zones are also reflected in the
codes of conduct laid out by individual countries. In its Laws of Armed Conflict (LOAC), the United States
military explains the regulatory principles which govern the waging of war.
Its three major points are tightly interrelated and are laid out below:
Military Necessity: Each military action must be evaluated based on the degree to which it will lead to the
speedy end of military conflict, the defeat or surrender of the enemy.
Distinction: Distinction must be made between civilians and those engaging in fighting. It is never
acceptable to target civilians or civilian property. The differentiation is specifically laid out between lawful
combatants, civilians and unlawful combatants. Lawful combatants are those who are authorized by LOAC
or a governing body to engage in combat. They must be marked somehow as belonging to this body and
operate within a clear hierarchical system. Unlawful combatants are those who engage in combat, but
are not marked as combatants. The rule of distinction
also applies to defenders. Military structures, such as
munitions factories, may not be placed next to Civilian
structures, such as hospitals or schools.
Proportionality: The military benefit of carrying out
a given combative action must be weighed against
the damage it is likely to cause to civilians and civilian
property.
US Soldiers in Afghanistan, 2010
Humanity: The military may not cause unnecessary
suffering. Certain weapons are banned entirely as are
certain methods of use of otherwise legal weapons. The
suffering must not outweigh the military effectiveness.
Some have pointed out that these guidelines no longer fully
reflect the manner in which wars are fought on the ground.
Modern conflict often does not take the form of two armies
facing one another, but of guerilla strikes and bitter urban
warfare with unmarked assailants. Such fighters who do
not designate themselves clearly as soldiers of an army are
classified as “unlawful combatants” and are not entitled to
the same treatment when captured as “lawful combatants.”
This differentiation has created significant clashes in political
and military discussion over how these individuals ought to
be dealt with after capture.
MOVIES
There are a number of movies that
illustrate different aspects of war.
Teachers should view movies in their
entirety before deciding to show it
in the classroom.
The Hurt Locker
Courage Under Fire
Schindler’s List
DISCUSSION:
Have an open discussion with students regarding the
changing nature and rules of war with specific regard to the
recent events in Syria.
Good Morning Vietnam
Saving Private Ryan
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DOES IT MATTER?
A SOLDIER’S EXPERIENCE OVER TIME
“It’s about that thing inside human nature that makes
us be able to go at somebody with a sharp object and
stick it in their chest. How and why does a person do
that? How can a person do that? We do it. Sometimes
we do it because we think we have to. We have no
choice; we’re defending ourselves. Sometimes we do it
for honor. That’s really what the piece came from: trying
to understand the war-like impulse. What does it do to
you to be at war? What does it do to you to do violence
to someone? What do you become if what you’ve been
doing is pushing sharp objects into somebody else?
Even if you’re doing it from thousands of miles away, or
pushing a button on a computer, it’s the same action.”
An American Soldier in Vietnam, 1965
–Lisa Peterson, Co-Author and Director of An Iliad,
First Rehearsal at New York Theatre Workshop
The Poet in An Iliad discusses the experience of war for the rank and file soldiers as well as the heroic
figures who led them. He paints us pictures of the horrors of the front line and the isolations of time,
distance and loss, which make daily life hard and will make rejoining society difficult for those who make it
home.
While war has changed and channels of communication have made the world seem smaller, these same
issues resonate through the years, haunting the soldiers of every war. Society has developed greater
awareness of the difficulties soldiers face both during their time serving their countries and upon their
return. Steps have been taken to increase support for those suffering from PTSD or struggling to put the
pieces of their life back together, as well as for the families they leave behind. But the essential problems
endure. The constancy of violence and the human response is central to the message of the Iliad.
In the letters, diaries and poetry of soldiers throughout history, we read descriptions of the physical and
emotional difficulties of life on the front which, perhaps surprisingly, have changed little since the Trojan
War. We see the conflicting emotions of rage, grief and sympathy, which we see in Hector’s loss of control
as he tries to defend his city. We see the pain of losing friends, which drives Achilles to revenge after
Patroclus’ death. We see the disorientation of returning to a home which has inevitably kept going while
the soldier was gone. This resonance between the world Homer described so long ago and these records
of those who have served in our time shows, more clearly than anything else could, the enduring power of
his story.
Here are a few excerpts from the writing of actual soldiers. (page 18)
Battle of the Somme,
1916
Removing the dead
from the trenches
Soldiers Crossing
Duckboard near
Ypres in 1917
Under Fire in Vietnam
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DOES IT MATTER?
A SOLDIER’S EXPERIENCE OVER TIME
CONTINUED
JOHN V. HADLEY, UNION LIEUTENANT
AMERICAN CIVIL WAR
June 20, 1862
Though we seem, here, to loose all the finer feelings
of our nature – learn to look upon a man flouncing
in his blood, with no more feelings of remorse than
if he were a beheaded dog & hear the groans of
suffering humanity with as much indifference as if it
were the groans of a dying hyena. But, dear friend,
I don’t desire to impress you with the idea that this
is common with us. It is only the result of battle.
A man may & will become so infuriated by the din
& dangers of a bloody fight, that if he ever had a
tender heart it will [be] turned to stone & his every
desire for blood.
KIRBY ROSS
WORLD WAR I
July 8th, 1918
Again with a detail of 10 men and Cpl Merrill we
traveled under fire to the front line to bury the
bodies. My what a time. Lost our Lieutenant in the
woods. So I led them on to the front and went to
work digging the graves. Looked for identification
which was awful work. bodies so decomposed.
beyond recognizing. finished work at dusk –
returning to camp at 10:15
Thursday, July 18, 1918.
My, of all the bloodshed, bodies badly torn…
nothing to eat for 72 hrs, just what we could get,
and no sleep for four days. Here’s where my poor
pal Sgt Fred T. Merrill met his death, poor Fred.
Just shook hands with him before we departed.
RESEARCH AND WRITE!
Students are to research what it was like
to be a soldier in a specific war and then
embodying a soldier they are to write a
letter home, or a journal entry etc...
SIGFRIED SASSOON, 1918
Does it Matter?
Does it matter?-losing your legs?
For people will always be kind,
And you need not show that you mind
When others come in after hunting
To gobble their muffins and eggs.
Does it matter?-losing your sight?
There’s such splendid work for the blind;
And people will always be kind,
As you sit on the terrace remembering
And turning your face to the light.
Do they matter-those dreams in the pit?
You can drink and forget and be glad,
And people won’t say that you’re mad;
For they know that you’ve fought for
your country,
And no one will worry a bit.
FIRST LIEUTENANT DEAN ALLEN
VIETNAM
July 10, 1969
Dearest Wife, I am out on ambush with eleven men
and a medic -- after everything is set up in position
I have nothing to do but think about why I am here.
Why do I have to be the one to tell someone to do
something that may get him blown away?
Being a good platoon leader is a lonely job. I don’t
want to really get to know anybody over here
because it would be bad enough to lose a man – I
damn sure don’t want to lose a friend. But as hard
as I try not to get involved with my men I still can’t
help liking them, and getting close to a few. They
come up and say “hey do you want to see picture of
my wife or girl?”
Like I said it gets lonely trying to stay separate.
Maybe sometime I’ll try to tell you how scared I am
now. There is nothing I can do about it, but wait for
another day to start + finish.
All my love always,
Dean
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LITERARY CONTEXT
Lisa Peterson told the Seattle Times “I think the Iliad is about rage as a drug. It is an examination of
the warriors heart, spirit and mind, and about what rage can do to us.” In a battle between rage and
compassion in the human soul…which will win?
DISCUSS the THEMES that appear in An Iliad:
Rage / Heroism / Honor / Hubris / Fate / War
STORYTELLING
“A need to tell and hear stories is essential to the species Homo sapiens – second in necessity apparently
after nourishment and before love and shelter. Millions survive without love or home, almost none in
silence; the opposite of silence leads quickly to narrative, and the sound of story is the dominant sound
of our lives, from the small accounts of our day’s events to the vast incommunicable constructs of
psychopaths.” –Reynolds Price, novelist
Before the advent of a writing system, stories were passed orally from one
person to another. While stories may recall actual events, many stories – such
as fairy tales, folk tales or fables – may be intended to teach expected social
behavior and morals to younger audiences. In many cultures, figures such as
the bard (British), rhapsode (Greek), fili (Irish), griot (Western African), minstrel
(European), jangam (South Indian) and skald (Norwegian) served as the historic
professional storytellers of their societies.
Several cultures – such as certain Native American tribes and African societies
– have a long running tradition of oral storytelling that continues today. Native
American storytelling is deeply entrenched in their spiritual belief and practice.
Today, the United States is experiencing a resurgence of oral storytelling with
programs like NPR’s (National Public Radio) “This American Life.”
ORATE AND WRITE!
Students are to tell a story to the class, one they know well. (ie: A Christmas Carol, Peter Pan, Alice In
Wonderland, The Three Little Pigs...moments from History can also work. ie: 9/11; Attack on Pearl Harbor;
D-Day; Government Shutdown of 1995 or 2013...) Encourage students to be active storytellers, engaging
their audience with facial expressions, different voices / postures for different characters, etc…
•
This activity will help students experience the oral storytelling tradition - once all stories have been
shared, the teacher should select one for the class to try and re-tell. Finally, have students reflect - as a
journal entry - on how the chosen story changed – while staying the same – with each performance.
An additional step to this exercise: have students write out their individual stories after they have given
their Homeric Performance. How much more (or less) elaborate is the written version compared to their
oral presentation?
For more information about Storytelling, check out these resources:
www.storycorps.org
www.storytellingcenter.net
www.storynet.org
19
TECHNICALLY TOURING A SHOW
The Role of the Production Stage Manager (PSM) No show can function without the talents organizational and communication skills - of a great PSM!
The PSM works with the Director to plan a rehearsal schedule that follows all the guidelines set by the
Actor’s Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers. Then, in rehearsal the
PSM makes careful notes of all the instructions and stage directions give by the Director so that she/
he can make sure the production stays true to those instructions throughout every performance. The
PSM will keep track of all the decisions, additions and changes made to the show and communicate
this information to all of the other departments at the theatre (Administration, Props, Costumes, Lights,
Sound, etc…). During the run of a show, it is the PSM who “calls the show.” Telling the sound and light
board operators, as well as any run crew members who deal with set/prop/costume changes, “when to
go” with their actions.
TOURING EQUIPMENT
Set/Props:
Because our On The Go! productions travel, loaded in and out of a van sometimes twice
a day, the sets and props for these productions are minimal.
Lighting: There will be no lighting design for this production because it is part of the On The Go!
school tour. As the tour moves from school to school, each theatre space, be it a stage or cafeteria or
gym, will have different lighting units, with sometimes only a switch to turn the lights on! For this play,
light is simply functional, used so that the audience can see clearly.
Costumes: Costuming for all On The Go! tours is show specific.
Sound: All On The Go! tours arrive with a traveling sound system which ensures both the stage
managers ability to control the sound, as well as ensuring that there will be sound at every tour location
– regardless of where the show is setting up (gym, cafeteria, theatre…).
MUSIC: The music for An Iliad – an essential component – is performed live, by a
Professional Cellist. Together, the director, actor and cellist collaborated to find the
right sounds to accompany the telling of this story.
Discuss the music with students post performance. Things to consider during the
discussion: Is the cellist ‘the muse’ of this production? The fact that poets – in the
days of Homer – often played an instrument themselves – what does it do for the
performance to have a cellist and a poet?
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THE PRODUCTION: WHO’S WHO
THE DIRECTOR: MARGARET E. HALL
Margaret E. Hall is an International Director, AEA Stage Manager and Drama Teacher.
She currently works as Assistant to the Artistic Director at Capital Repertory Theatre.
Recent directorial work includes: Shakespeare: The Remix; Hope and Gravity (a
reading); Circus Olympus; Into The Woods Jr.; The Aristocats Kid’s; Peter Pan and
Wendy and The Wizard of Oz. With her company HallWay Productions Margaret has
produced and directed a series of 24 Hour Theatre projects with rounds designed for
high school students and professional artists. She is a proud member of Conflict Relief,
the Arab Israeli Theatre Collaboration. Her skills and training have taken her to Bali,
Scotland, Austria, Russia, England, Romania, and to several U.S. states. Margaret holds
a BA in Theatre Arts from SUNY New Platz, and an MFA in Theatre Directing from the
University of Essex in London.
THE ACTOR: TIM DEENIHAN
Timothy Deenihan (Poet) is an actor, writer, trainer, and impatient philosopher.
Nominated Best Actor for the UK series, Brookside, other film/tv credits include
Hornblower, Doctors, Law & Order: CI, Batman Begins, and Zwartboek. Among roles
on UK and US stages (including The Seafarer, Betrayal, Race and Venus in Fur for
Capital Rep), Tim received the TimeOut:London Critics’ Choice for Absolution and
NY Times Pick-Of-The-Week for Susan & God. He has been commissioned by the
BBC and optioned by Tiger Aspect. Additionally, he is a CrossFit certified personal
trainer, working with clients all the way from Connecticut to California. Follow Tim at
timothydeenihan.com or @tinangel.
THE MUSICIAN:
KATHLEEN BOWMAN (CELLIST)
PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER:
SARA FRIEDMAN
THE PRODUCTION TEAM:
Maggie Mancinelli-Cahill (Producing Artistic Director); Brandon Curry (Production Manager);
Carolyn Walker (Costume Designer); Luke Krauss (Audio Engineer); Julia Bohl (Technical Director);
Chelsea Leach (Prop Designer)
21
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
The following classroom activities are from the
McCarter Theatre Center’s 2010 Study Guide for
An Iliad, and used with their permission.
A ONE-MAN ILIAD
Homer’s Iliad stands at the beginning of the
Western literary tradition, as well as at the
center of classical education. The 15,693 lines of
hexameter verse is often referred to as “the first
book,” although it was originally composed more
than 2,700 years ago as an oral narrative poem
– before the ancient Greeks even developed
an alphabet – and intended for live recitation /
performance.
A solo-play such as An Iliad requires what
theater professionals refer to as a “tour
de force” performer, that is, an actor with
great talent, skill, stamina, virtuosity, and
psychological strength or confidence. It is
the performer’s ultimate challenge, and it is
reasonable to say that not just any actor could
take on such a role. Here are some postshow discussion questions to ask students (for
open discussion or in written form):
Here students can experience the text of the Iliad
through recitation of Homer’s immortal war poem
in translation.
IN CONTEXT:
HOMER AND HIS ILIAD
Help deepen students level of understanding of the
mythos of Homer and his mythological “poem of
Ilium.” Students should research, either in groups
or individually, and prepare an oral report (with
supporting illustrations) to be given to the class on
one of the following topics:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Homer and the “Homeric Question”
Greek hero cults and Homereria
Aoidoi and rhapsodes
Troy
The Gods (Aphrodite, Apollo, Ares, Athena,
Hephaestus, Hera, Hermes, Thetis, Zeus)
6. The Greeks / Achaeans (Achilles,
Agamemnon, Helen, Menelaus, Nestor,
Odyssesus, Patroclus)
7. The Trojans / Dardans (Andromache,
Astyanax, Cassandra, Hector, Paris, Priam)
8. The Muses
Following the presentations ask students to reflect
upon their research process and discoveries.
• What did you find compelling, exciting,
surprising, confounding, or worth noting
about Timothy Deenihan’s performance?
• What one moment of Deenihan’s
performance stands out foremost in
your mind when you think of An Iliad?
Describe that moment in detail and
explain why you think it remains foremost
in your thoughts.
• What were the pleasures of watching
Deenihan embody the Poet and the other
characters in the play?
• Was there anything that didn’t work
for you in the performance of the piece?
Explain your response.
• What in the nature of An Iliad (e.g.,
narrative, theme, characters, structure)
recommends it as or requires that it be
a solo performance piece? Explain your
answer.
• What would be lost theatrically or
thematically if An Iliad were expanded
into a play for multiple characters, if
anything? Explain your response.
22
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
CONTINUED
COMPARING HOMER’S ILIAD AND AN ILIAD:
A WAR POEM RETOLD
Homer’s Iliad is an epic poem that narrates the story of the Trojan War and, as the first line of the
poem indicates, “the rage of Peleus’ son Achilles.” Although the tale that Homer tells is replete with
vivid and disturbing details of the horror, violence, suffering and misery of war, it also, as historian
Bernard Knox notes in his introduction to Robert Fagles’ translation, “is a poem that celebrates the
heroic values war imposes on its votaries,” and the glory and excitement of battle.
Lisa Peterson conceived of the notion of taking the world’s greatest war poem and finding a way
to adapt it into a play that would “demand a public conversation” on the subject of war. She and
co-author Denis O’Hare entitled their adaptation An Iliad to suggest that theirs is not THE Iliad, but
simply one telling of it.
Ask students to contemplate Peterson and O’Hare’s adaptation and reimagining of Homer’s war
poem as a play and then engage them in a “public discussion” based upon the following questions:
• In the process of experiencing An Iliad, did it strike you as a work of political art critical of war?
• How would you characterize An Iliad’s point of view on war?
• What parallels, if any, did your brain construct between the Trojan War and the U.S. and Iraq and
Afghanistan Wars (or any other war) as you experienced An Iliad in performance?
• Do you find the play and production to be an effective work of political art? Why or why not?
• Did you find An Iliad to be emotionally as well as intellectually engaging? What did you find to be
most engaged by the performance: your heart, your brain, or your spirit? Explain your answers.
RESOURCES CONSULTED:
www.dictionary.com
www.google.com
www.imdb.com
http://www.theoi.com
www.wikipedia.com
www.perseus.tufts.edu
www.defensemedianetwork.com
www.history.com
www.schmoop.com
www.iwm.org.uk
http://americantheatrewing.org/biography/detail/
lisa_peterson
http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/
stageandarts/215232151.html
http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/ashp/
NEWhp252/portnov/troy.html
http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/news/firstnights/article/item106985/helen/
http://www.personal.psu.edu/mkw5102/giza.html
http://graecomuse.wordpress.com/2012/01/28/
war-minus-the-shooting-ideals-behind-the-ancientolympic-games/
http://www.metmuseum.org/events/travel-with-themet/sri-lanka-ancient-buddhism
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/
socrates/socrates.HTM
http://www.reachtoteachrecruiting.com/guide-tochina-ancient-history.html
23
TEACHER EVALUATION:
AN ILIAD
FILL THIS OUT & GET 2 FREE TICKETS!
Your feedback helps us to constantly improve programming and attract additional underwriting.
Please take a moment to fill out this form. You are encouraged to make multiple copies so that all
of the teachers in your group may respond. All teachers who submit a completed evaluation
will be given a free pair of tickets to a future Capital Rep production.
1. How would you rate the quality of today’s performance?
Excellent Good Fair Poor
2. Did attending the performance assist you in addressing classroom curriculum?
Very Much Somewhat Not At All N/A
3. Were the on-line study materials useful in preparing students and deepening their experience?
Very Much Somewhat Not At All N/A
4. Please check all that apply:
____Today’s performance price was affordable for my school.
____My school required a subsidy in order to afford today’s performance.
____My school would provide performances for more students, more often, if additional funds were available.
5. Any additional information / comments welcome, please attach them to this evaluation.
Name:_____________________________ School:__________________________
Phone:_____________________________ E-mail:__________________________
The completed form may be submitted by email ([email protected]) or by mail
(Capital Rep Education Department, P.O. Box 1985, Albany, NY 12201-1985)
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CAPITAL REP’S MISSION IN ACTION!
CREATING AN AUTHENTIC LINK TO THE COMMUNITY WE SERVE…
EDUCATION AND OUTREACH
Education and Outreach are key components of Capital Rep’s mission, “to create an authentic link to the
community we serve.” Through a wide range of programs, Capital Rep strives “to provide the Capital Region
with theatre programming which inspires a greater understanding of the human condition” and helps “to develop
future audiences by instilling the notion that theatre is a vital part of the cultural life of all vibrant cities.”
PROGRAMS FOR STUDENTS
CLASSICS ON STAGE
In 1995, Capital Rep renewed its commitment to Education with the expansion of the Student Matinee
Program. Performances of most of the theatre’s professional productions are scheduled during the school
day with dramatically discounted prices for area students to allow for greater accessibility. Each season,
one play is designated as Classics on Stage, for its direct connections with curriculum.
ON-THE-GO!
In order to accommodate an even larger student audience and to develop relationships with schools unable
to attend the matinee performances, Capital Rep developed the On The Go! School Tour Program. These
specially adapted professional productions are designed to play to students on-site in schools. Last season,
more than 16,000 students attended performances of Pure Poe an original work about Edgar Allen Poe. All
On The Go! and Student Matinee performances feature Post-Show Discussions and Production Study Guides
(available on-line in PDF format!) to provide a cultural, artistic and historical context for the production.
STAR
Since 1997, Capital Rep has been putting kids in the spotlight! Through Summer Theatre At the Rep
(STAR), teens work with professional theatre artists to develop their own original theatre piece, which is
then premiered on the Capital Rep stage.
ARTIST IN RESIDENCY PROGRAMS
Capital Rep works in conjunction with school educators to bring highly trained teaching artists to work in
extended residency within the classroom. Opportunities to embed the theatrical experience into the
curriculum are available for teachers and students for every work in our 2012-2013 Education Season.
CAREER DEVELOPMENT
Capital Rep is dedicated to helping to build the next generation of theatre professionals. The theatre’s
Professional Apprenticeship Program provides year-long or summer-long paid apprenticeships for young
people beginning a career in the performing arts and arts education.
2013-14 EDUCATION SPONSORS
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