NYTW Extends AN ILIAD Through April 1

New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) has announced that the New York premiere of An Iliad, by Denis O'Hare and Lisa Peterson, based on Homer's Iliad translated by Robert Fagles, directed by Ms. Peterson, will extend for one week through Sunday, April 1, at NYTW, 79 East 4 Street, between Bowery and Second Avenue. Mr. O'Hare and Stephen Spinella will continue to alternate performances of the play.

An Iliad opened on Tuesday, March 6 and Wednesday, March 7, to superb notices and has been playing to sold-out houses. Charles Isherwood of The New York Times wrote, "Virtuosic performances from both Denis O'Hare and Stephen Spinella. An Iliad scales the conflict of the Trojan War down to an intimate solo show illuminating both the heroism and horror of warfare." And David Cote of Time Out New York called An Iliad "Pure theatre. Shocking, glorious, primal, and deeply satisfying. Each actor fills the eye with astounding sights-almost more than our hearts can bear."

A sprawling yarn based on Homer's epic poem, An Iliad spins the familiar tale of gods and goddesses, undying love and endless battles told through an original and immediate voice. Tony Award-winning actors Denis O'Hare (Assassins, Take Me Out) and Stephen Spinella (Angels in America) will alternate as performers in this account of humanity's unshakeable attraction to violence, destruction, and chaos. Has anything really changed since the Trojan War?

New York Theatre Workshop, now celebrating its 29th season, is a leading voice in the world of Off-Broadway and within the theatre community in New York and around the world. NYTW has emerged as a premiere incubator of important new theatre, honoring its mission to explore perspectives on our collective history and respond to the events and institutions that shape our lives. In addition, NYTW is known for its innovative adaptations of classic repertory. Each season, from its home in New York's East Village neighborhood, NYTW presents three to five new productions, over 80 readings, and numerous workshop productions, for over 45,000 audience members. Over the past 28 years, NYTW has developed and produced over 100 new, fully staged works, including Jonathan Larson's Rent, Tony Kushner's Slavs! and Homebody/Kabul, Doug Wright's Quills, Claudia Shear's Blown Sideways Through Life and Dirty Blonde, Paul Rudnick's The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told and Valhalla, Caryl Churchill's Mad Forest, Far Away, and A Number, Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen's Aftermath, and Rick Elice's Peter and the Starcatcher. The 2002 remounting of Martha Clarke's seminal work, Vienna: Lusthaus and subsequent American tour was one of the longest-running productions in NYTW's history. NYTW is represented on Broadway this season with Once, opening on March 18, and Peter and the Starcatcher, beginning performances on March 28. NYTW supports artists in all stages of their careers by maintaining a series of workshop programs including work-in-progress readings, summer residencies, and minority artist fellowships. In 1991, NYTW received an OBIE Award for Sustained Achievement and in 2000 was designated to be part of the Leading National Theatres Program by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

An Iliad plays at New York Theatre Workshop, 79 East 4th Street, between Second Avenue and Bowery. The regular performance schedule is Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:00pm; Thursday and Friday at 8:00pm; Saturday at 3pm and 8pm; Sunday at 2pm and 7pm. An Iliad runs through Sunday, April 1, 2012. Tickets start at $70 with a special ticket price of $100 to receive one ticket to a performance featuring Denis O'Hare and one ticket to a performance featuring Stephen Spinella. Tickets may be purchased online at www.ticketcentral.com, 24 hours a day, seven days a week or by phoning Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200. For exact dates and times of performance, visit www.nytw.org. The running time for An Iliad is 100 minutes with no intermission.

AfterWords post-performance audience discussions will follow the performance on Wednesday, March 21.

NYTW is pleased to make theatre accessible to everyone with its $20 CheapTix Sundays program. A dedicated number of tickets for Sunday evening performances at 7:00pm can be purchased in person at the NYTW Box Office for only $20. Tickets may be purchased in advance, payable in cash only and are available to all audience members.

NYTW also has $25 student tickets available for all performances. Student tickets may be purchased in advance from the NYTW Box Office with valid student identification.

In addition, NYTW offers discount ticket prices for adult and student groups of 10 or more. Please contact group sales at stephaniew@nytw.org.

The NYTW Box office is open 1:00pm to 6:00pm, Tuesday through Saturday.