January 19, 2012
“The greatest works for the greatest number” is the motto of New York City’s Aquila Theatre Group, a traveling troupe of professional players who are set to grace the stage of Hamilton’s Wellin Hall on January 22nd as the opening act of Hamilton’s spring Performing Arts Series. Aquila will offer its energetic and innovative interpretation of William Shakespeare’s classic, Macbeth.
Aquila’s website states that founder and current artistic director Peter Meineck started the project with the “desire to create bold reinterpretations of classic plays for contemporary audiences that sought to free the spirit of the original work and recreate the excitement of the live performance that made it become a classic play.” In other words, Aquila strives to reinvigorate classic works to make them more compatible with the sensibilities of young and modern audiences.
Aquila has garnered popular and critical acclaim not simply for their stagecraft but for their commitment to community service and their desire to create a widespread culture of theatergoing in America. Aquila lives its mission each day in New York City, where it bases its operations when the troupe is not out on the road. They run a popular after-school program in Harlem that allows students to stage a production that their school otherwise would not have funded. Aquila also offer residents of “underserved rural and urban communities” the opportunity to see a professional production free of cost. They seek to “demystify” classical drama, a noble aim which many high school students across America could certainly benefit from in their efforts to engage with and understand the sometimes inaccessible literary genius of Shakespeare.
This production of Macbeth promises to showcase all of the qualities that allow Shakespeare’s legacy to endure for generations, from the famously witty quip that “fair is foul and foul is fair” to the classic themes of ambition and evil. Aquila’s actors and artistic director are all-too familiar with the enduring motifs and rich language of the great English playwright, having completed productions of nearly all of his works since the troupe was founded in 1991. Theater-goers can expect a just and sound treatment of Shakespeare’s syntax and character development that many less experienced theater companies would be liable to botch. The strange and troubled relationship between the hesitant Macbeth and his aggressively ambitious Lady promises to entertain audiences even as the title character descends into an abyss of despair and violence.
The performance begins at 8 p.m. It will be preceded by a discussion with founder and artistic director Peter Meineck at 7 p.m. in Café Opus. Tickets are $5 for students, $15 for senior citizens and $20 for adults.