AN ILIAD touring production comes to Tucson February 7

 

From: Algernon D'Ammassa [mailto:nogate@gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, January 7, 2015 3:15 PM
Subject: AN ILIAD touring production comes to Tucson February 7

 

 

Paul Surhoff & Diane Plante        

present             

 

       AN ILIAD

2012 Obie Award winning play

 

By Lisa Peterson & Denis O'Hare

 

Based on Homer's The Iliad, translated by Robert Fagles

 

Performed by

Algernon D'Ammassa

&

Randy Granger

 

 

 

One Actor.  One Musician.

An epic tale of gods, heroes, fools, and human rage

 

"..a tour-de-force performance rarely seen in these parts!" 

-- THE TRUANT (Las Cruces)

                                                                                                                                                                           

 

 

Abounding Grace Church

2450 South Kolb Road, Tucson

 

www.facebook.com/theatredojous 

ONE SHOW ONLY

Saturday, February 7     6:30 PM

Admission is by donation

(908) 917-2307 reservations & info

 

 

Here is a link to a short video teaser for our show:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Db4bx1ee2GI&feature=share

and a review from one of our New Mexico performances: http://thetruantlc.com/2014/02/23/blood-guts-and-theater/

               

 

 

PRESS CONTACT

Algernon D'Ammassa, Producer

(575) 545-7613, nogate@gmail.com

Paul Surhoff, Executive Producer

(908) 917-2307, psurhoff@gmail.com

 

                                                                                   

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

OBIE-AWARD EPIC DRAMA COMES TO TUCSON

 

AN ILIAD

WRITTEN BY LISA PETERSON AND DENIS O'HARE

PERFORMED BY ARTISTS FROM NEW MEXICO

FEBRUARY 7, 2015

 

Veteran stage actor Algernon D'Ammassa collaborates with musician Randy Granger

 

 

December 12, 2014 –  The timeless battle between Achilles and Hector, with mischievous gods looking on from above, is brought to life through fearless acting and musical improvisation. Based on Robert Fagles's translation of Homer's epic, this modern play retells the ancient tale of gods, goddesses, warriors and their families, and the endless battles of human history with a gripping, modern voice.  Algernon D'Ammassa recounts the epic story of the Trojan War and all its major characters, including the gods, with a few simple props; and Randy Granger creates a musical landscape unique to each performance and each audience, improvising freely with a wide variety of instruments and found objects.

 

Writing for The Truant in Las Cruces, critic David Salcido called the show "a tour-de-force performance the likes of which are rarely seen in these parts."

 

An Iliad will be presented at the Abounding Grace church on Saturday, February 7, at 2450 South Kolb Road. The performance will begin at 6:30 PM. Admission is available for donations. (The suggested donation is $15.) For reservations and additional information, contact Paul Surhoff at (908) 917-2307 or email psurhoff@gmail.com.

 

An Iliad opens on an empty stage with the entrance of a strange, apparently homeless man with a beat-up suitcase.  He begins to sing in ancient Greek, a song seemingly as old as humanity, and a song he has been singing for a very long time.  He has difficulty remembering all of the words now, but the stories possess him and we see it is his destiny to tell this tale – and ours, to live it, generation after generation.

 

This touring production of An Iliad brings together New Mexico performers in a collaboration of storytelling and music.  The presence of live music harkens to an ancient tradition wherein traveling poets would accompany themselves on a lyre. 

 

Algernon D'Ammassa is a theatrical actor who has also appeared on film and television.  He has traveled all over the United States and to Europe as a performer and teacher.  In 2006, he founded Theatre Dojo in Los Angeles, California as a multi-disciplinary community combining yoga, meditation, and martial arts with dramatic performance.  He is based in Deming, teaches at the Creative Media Institute at New Mexico State University, and is a board member of the New Mexico Humanities Council.

 

Randy Granger, based in Las Cruces, is a nationally touring musician of Mayan and Apache heritage. He is a master of Native American flute, jazz, mariachi, and other musical styles. In An Iliad, he plays numerous flutes, stringed instruments, and percussion.

This production premiered in Las Cruces, New Mexico in 2014. It has since performed in several cities in New Mexico as well as Texas and North Carolina. Other bookings of this show are to be announced. Meanwhile, D'Ammassa and Granger are developing two original works of music and theatre.

For more information on the tour, a Facebook page has been established at www.facebook.com/theatredojous . 

###