Contact: David Kuehn, Executive Director s9

For Immediate Release: Contact: David Kuehn, Executive Director Cotuit Center for the Arts Phone: (508) 428-0669 Email: [email protected] Website: ArtsOnTheCape.org

“An Iliad” at Cotuit Center for the Arts Cotuit Center for the Arts presents “An Iliad,” by Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare, May 4 through May 21, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8 PM, and Sunday at 2 PM. Kevin Quill will perform the one- man play in the center’s Black Box Theater. This is a return engagement, Quill performed the play in 2013 to great success. “An Iliad” is a modern-day retelling of Homer’s epic poem about the Trojan War. It considers the heroism and the horror of warfare through both humor and anger, combining Homer’s original verse, as translated by Robert Fagles, with more informal contemporary commentary by the storyteller. Kevin Quill plays a lone raconteur, possibly Homer, possibly one of the many bards who came after him, or, as the play’s authors put it, a “collective Homer.” He is committed to telling and retelling his story about the siege of Troy, as he has for centuries, throughout the world. He tells of the triumphs and calamities of Greek and Trojan armies and warriors and their gods: Agamemnon, the leader of the Greeks; Achilles, the warrior hero; Patroclus, his friend and fellow warrior who substitutes for him in battle; and Hector, the Trojan war hero. We also hear about Hector’s wife Andromache, Paris, who steals the beautiful Helen, and Helen, whose kidnapping sparked the war. Quill is a Cape Cod native who went to Nauset High School and recently graduated from Hunter College in New York with a BA in English literature. He also studied with a private acting coach while in college. He has been interested in performing “An Iliad” since it opened in New York. "My character, The Poet, was there when the Trojan War took place and has been giving a first-hand account of the story, with some generation loss, for 3,000 years,” said Quill. “He has a hard time getting through parts of it, reliving the thousands of deaths and waste of human life, yet he still conveys the beauty and brotherhood that comes with the ancient art of war."

"The challenge that burdens The Poet directly parallels my challenge as the performer playing him: to tell the epic story just right. To provoke both an emotional and cerebral response in the audience." Co-authored by Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare, who also played the Poet, “An Iliad” premiered in New York in 2010 to rave reviews. The New York Times called it “spellbinding,” and Time Out NY called it “pure theater: shocking, glorious, primal, and deeply satisfying.” The Boston Globe said it was a “mesmerizing” story of “humanity’s bottomless capacity for violence.” “An Iliad” is also accessible and timeless, speaking vividly of the tragedy and futility of war, both in the distant past and in the present. “The play is about war, but it is not antiwar,” Peterson has said “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?” The show, she says, is “an examination of where rage comes from, and how it acts within us, and how does one deal with it.” In his efforts to explain, the Poet makes liberal use of metaphor, using present-day examples like road rage and waiting in line at the super market to make sense of man’s behavior during war. "A major goal of the play is to keep the audience engaged,” said Quill. “The modern references and parallels aren't meant to 'dumb down' the piece, but rather to bridge the gap between Greece in 1200 BC and Cotuit, MA in 2013 AD. For instance, Homer spends 13 pages listing the Greek ships and their captains. This would be very exciting if you were from Greece 3,000 years ago, but not so much today—so the Poet stops himself and lists American towns and villages instead." The play was developed by the New York Theatre Workshop, which, Quill said, is known for presenting “very cool plays that aren’t necessarily going to be blockbusters” by playwrights who are willing to take risks. It is somewhat equivalent of Cotuit Center for the Arts’ Black Box Theater, he said, a theater that encourages innovative works. Tickets are $18, $15 for members. Cotuit Center for the Arts is at 4404 Route 28 in Cotuit. For more information, visit artsonthecape.org or call 508-428-0669.

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“An Iliad,” by Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare

Where:

Cotuit Center for the Arts, 4404 Route 28, Cotuit

May 4-21, Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 8 PM, Sunday at 2PM

Admission:

$18, $15 for members END