The Hope College Great Performance Series will feature the Aquila Theatre with performances of "The Iliad" on Friday, Feb. 13, and "The Comedy of Errors" on Saturday, Feb. 14, both at 7:30 p.m. at the Knickerbocker Theatre in downtown Holland.
Aquila Theatre has won international praise for its innovative presentations of classic drama and returns to Hope College with two outstanding productions.
Widely acclaimed as one of the greatest works in world literature, "The Iliad," Homer's epic story of the Trojan War, has had a profound influence on every generation since first performed by ancient Greek bards in the Mediterranean more than 2,500 years ago. Described by "The New York Times" as "A performance of staggering power," the Aquila Theatre Company's production of Homer's "Iliad," told in the context of the Normandy invasion of World War II, creates a "stunning, stirring, and memorable" theatrical experience. Nine years after the start of the Trojan War, the Greeks are still unable to defeat their enemy. Agamemnon, the commander, clashes with the best warrior, Achilles, over the division of war-prizes, and is forced to give back the girl Chryseis to her father after Apollo sends a terrible plague. "Backstage" raved, "If you see only one piece of theatre this year - see Aquila's Iliad."
The company's range will be seen the next night when the ensemble turns to William Shakespeare's "The Comedy of Errors." The plot relates an intricate and energetic story of two pairs of identical twins in the same household separated by a devastating shipwreck. But, as the comedy unfolds, all is not what it seems. Set in the ancient city of Ephesus, the farce includes mistaken identity, assumed personas, hilarious machinations and whimsical family ties. "The New York Times" wrote of Aquila's "The Comedy of Errors": "No one who sees the rousing production by the excellent Aquila Theater Company will forget a whit of it."
Tickets for the performances are on sale at the ticket office in the DeVos Fieldhouse, and for each evening cost $17 for regular admission, $12 for senior citizens, and $6 for children 18 and under. The ticket office is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and can be called at (616) 395-7890.
The ticket office is in the main lobby of the DeVos Fieldhouse, which is located at 222 Fairbanks Ave., between Ninth and 11th streets. The Knickerbocker Theatre is located at 86 E. Eighth St.
Additional information may be obtained online by visiting www.hope.edu/gps.