Peter Meineck
Encyclopedia
Peter Meineck is the Artistic Director and founder of Aquila Theatre
. Peter is also a clinical professor of Classics
at New York University
. He has also held appointments at Princeton University
and the University of South Carolina
.
, England and grew up in New Malden, Surrey in the UK where he attended Beverley Boys School. His earned a BA (Hons) in Ancient World Studies in the departments of Greek and Latin at University College London
and his PhD in Classics at the University of Nottingham
. He worked extensively in London theatre and founded Aquila Theatre
in 1991. His aim with Aquila is to bring the greatest works to the greatest number and he has developed a sixty-seventy city American tour that brings classical drama to communities of all sizes across the USA. His work with Aquila has been seen regularly in New York City at the Clark Studio at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, 45 Bleecker, Manhattan Ensemble Theatre, Classic Stage Company, Baruch Theatre, The Skirball Center, The New Victory Theatre and Theatre Row. Aquila has also performed at the White House and around the world, recently in Greece, the UK, Germany, Bermuda, Poland and Hungary. He has directed and/or produced over 50 productions including; Aescyhlus' Agamemnon, Sophocles' Ajax, Philoctetes and Oedipus Tyrannus, Aristophanes' Clouds, Frogs, Wasps and Birds, Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, Shakespeare's Coriolanus, Macbeth, Julius Caesar, King Lear, Comedy of Errors, Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, and As You Like It. He has also designed lights for over 30 productions. HIs work has received grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, The National Endowment for the Arts, The New York State Council for the Humanities, The New York State Council for the Arts, The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, The Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, Southeast Arts, Southern Arts, The Charles Hayden Foundation, The Onassis Foundation, The Laura Pels Foundation, The Carnegie Mellon Foundation and The New York Times Foundation.
Peter Meineck also directs the Aquila Shakespeare Leaders After School Program at Frederick Douglass Academy in Harlem has taught workshops and masterclasses on Shakespeare, Greek Theatre and Masks all over the US and Canada. He has also designed lighting for more than 40 shows. He has published several volumes of translations of Greek plays and is a regular contributor the humanities journal *Arion. His articles and reviews have appeared in The American Journal of Philology, Classical World, The New England Theatre Journal and American Theater. He has recorded several series of lectures for Recorded Books and the Barnes & Noble Portable Professor Series (When Gods Walked The Earth, Classical Mythology: The Greeks, Classical Mythology: The Romans, Greek Drama). He translated the opera libretto for Cherubini’s Medee performed at Carnegie Hall
and a new stage adaptation of Joseph Heller's Catch-22
Other stage adaptations he has written that have been produced include, The Trojan Women, The Oresteia, The Canterbury Tales, The Invisible Man, The Man Who Would Be King and Aristophanes Clouds, He also acts as a mythology consultant most notably to Will Smith
on the film I Am Legend
. He now Lives in Katonah, New York
Directing projects include Aquila Theatre
's Catch-22
and Julius Caesar
. Comedy Of Errors, The Iliad: Book One, An Enemy of The People. He is currently Clinical Associate Professor of Classics and Ancient Studies at New York University and has held teaching posts at Princeton University, NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and USC. He is director of the Ancient Greeks/Modern Lives Program supported by the National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH Chairman's Special Award). He has served as a Member of the American Philological Association Committee for the Performance of Classical Texts; was a Summer Fellow at the Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies, Washington, DC, Regents Lecturer at the University of California, San Diego, Director in Residence, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX, Translator in Residence Gustavus Adolphus College and President, University College London Classical Society. He is a member of the Katonah and Bedford Hills Volunteer Ambulance Corps and the American Philological Association.
Aquila Theatre
The Aquila Theatre was founded in London in 1991 by Peter Meineck and has been based in New York City since 1999. Aquila's mission is to bring the greatest theatrical works to the greatest number and presents a regular season of plays in New York and at international festivals. Education...
. Peter is also a clinical professor of Classics
Classics
Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
. He has also held appointments at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
and the University of South Carolina
University of South Carolina
The University of South Carolina is a public, co-educational research university located in Columbia, South Carolina, United States, with 7 surrounding satellite campuses. Its historic campus covers over in downtown Columbia not far from the South Carolina State House...
.
Biography
Peter Meineck was born in Melton Mowbray LeicestershireLeicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
, England and grew up in New Malden, Surrey in the UK where he attended Beverley Boys School. His earned a BA (Hons) in Ancient World Studies in the departments of Greek and Latin at University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
and his PhD in Classics at the University of Nottingham
University of Nottingham
The University of Nottingham is a public research university based in Nottingham, United Kingdom, with further campuses in Ningbo, China and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia...
. He worked extensively in London theatre and founded Aquila Theatre
Aquila Theatre
The Aquila Theatre was founded in London in 1991 by Peter Meineck and has been based in New York City since 1999. Aquila's mission is to bring the greatest theatrical works to the greatest number and presents a regular season of plays in New York and at international festivals. Education...
in 1991. His aim with Aquila is to bring the greatest works to the greatest number and he has developed a sixty-seventy city American tour that brings classical drama to communities of all sizes across the USA. His work with Aquila has been seen regularly in New York City at the Clark Studio at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, 45 Bleecker, Manhattan Ensemble Theatre, Classic Stage Company, Baruch Theatre, The Skirball Center, The New Victory Theatre and Theatre Row. Aquila has also performed at the White House and around the world, recently in Greece, the UK, Germany, Bermuda, Poland and Hungary. He has directed and/or produced over 50 productions including; Aescyhlus' Agamemnon, Sophocles' Ajax, Philoctetes and Oedipus Tyrannus, Aristophanes' Clouds, Frogs, Wasps and Birds, Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, Shakespeare's Coriolanus, Macbeth, Julius Caesar, King Lear, Comedy of Errors, Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, and As You Like It. He has also designed lights for over 30 productions. HIs work has received grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, The National Endowment for the Arts, The New York State Council for the Humanities, The New York State Council for the Arts, The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, The Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, Southeast Arts, Southern Arts, The Charles Hayden Foundation, The Onassis Foundation, The Laura Pels Foundation, The Carnegie Mellon Foundation and The New York Times Foundation.
Peter Meineck also directs the Aquila Shakespeare Leaders After School Program at Frederick Douglass Academy in Harlem has taught workshops and masterclasses on Shakespeare, Greek Theatre and Masks all over the US and Canada. He has also designed lighting for more than 40 shows. He has published several volumes of translations of Greek plays and is a regular contributor the humanities journal *Arion. His articles and reviews have appeared in The American Journal of Philology, Classical World, The New England Theatre Journal and American Theater. He has recorded several series of lectures for Recorded Books and the Barnes & Noble Portable Professor Series (When Gods Walked The Earth, Classical Mythology: The Greeks, Classical Mythology: The Romans, Greek Drama). He translated the opera libretto for Cherubini’s Medee performed at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
and a new stage adaptation of Joseph Heller's Catch-22
Catch-22
Catch-22 is a satirical, historical novel by the American author Joseph Heller. He began writing it in 1953, and the novel was first published in 1961. It is set during World War II in 1943 and is frequently cited as one of the great literary works of the twentieth century...
Other stage adaptations he has written that have been produced include, The Trojan Women, The Oresteia, The Canterbury Tales, The Invisible Man, The Man Who Would Be King and Aristophanes Clouds, He also acts as a mythology consultant most notably to Will Smith
Will Smith
Willard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. , also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor, producer, and rapper. He has enjoyed success in television, film and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood...
on the film I Am Legend
I Am Legend (film)
I Am Legend is a 2007 post-apocalyptic science fiction film directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Will Smith. It is the third feature film adaptation of Richard Matheson's 1954 novel of the same name, following 1964's The Last Man on Earth and 1971's The Omega Man. Smith plays virologist Robert...
. He now Lives in Katonah, New York
Katonah, New York
Katonah, New York is one of three unincorporated hamlets within the town of Bedford, Westchester County, New York, United States.-History:Katonah is named for Chief Katonah, an American Indian from whom the land of Bedford was purchased by a group of English colonists...
Directing projects include Aquila Theatre
Aquila Theatre
The Aquila Theatre was founded in London in 1991 by Peter Meineck and has been based in New York City since 1999. Aquila's mission is to bring the greatest theatrical works to the greatest number and presents a regular season of plays in New York and at international festivals. Education...
's Catch-22
Catch-22
Catch-22 is a satirical, historical novel by the American author Joseph Heller. He began writing it in 1953, and the novel was first published in 1961. It is set during World War II in 1943 and is frequently cited as one of the great literary works of the twentieth century...
and Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
. Comedy Of Errors, The Iliad: Book One, An Enemy of The People. He is currently Clinical Associate Professor of Classics and Ancient Studies at New York University and has held teaching posts at Princeton University, NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and USC. He is director of the Ancient Greeks/Modern Lives Program supported by the National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH Chairman's Special Award). He has served as a Member of the American Philological Association Committee for the Performance of Classical Texts; was a Summer Fellow at the Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies, Washington, DC, Regents Lecturer at the University of California, San Diego, Director in Residence, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX, Translator in Residence Gustavus Adolphus College and President, University College London Classical Society. He is a member of the Katonah and Bedford Hills Volunteer Ambulance Corps and the American Philological Association.
Marriage and children
Meineck married ballerina Desiree Sanchez in 2004. They have two children.Translations
- OresteiaThe OresteiaThe Oresteia is a trilogy of Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus which concerns the end of the curse on the House of Atreus. When originally performed it was accompanied by Proteus, a satyr play that would have been performed following the trilogy; it has not survived...
, with Helene P Foley (Hackett Publishing CompanyHackett Publishing CompanyHackett Publishing Company, Inc. is an academic publishing house based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Since beginning operations in 1972, Hackett has concentrated mainly on humanities, especially classical and philosophical texts. Many Hackett titles are used as textbooks, making the company very...
, 1998) - AristophanesAristophanesAristophanes , son of Philippus, of the deme Cydathenaus, was a comic playwright of ancient Athens. Eleven of his forty plays survive virtually complete...
1 : The CloudsThe CloudsThe Clouds is a comedy written by the celebrated playwright Aristophanes lampooning intellectual fashions in classical Athens. It was originally produced at the City Dionysia in 423 BC and it was not well received, coming last of the three plays competing at the festival that year. It was revised...
, WaspsThe WaspsThe Wasps is the fourth in chronological order of the eleven surviving plays by Aristophanes, the master of an ancient genre of drama called 'Old Comedy'. It was produced at the Lenaia festival in 422 BC, a time when Athens was enjoying a brief respite from The Peloponnesian War following a one...
, BirdsThe Birds (play)The Birds is a comedy by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. It was performed in 414 BCE at the City Dionysia where it won second prize. It has been acclaimed by modern critics as a perfectly realized fantasy remarkable for its mimicry of birds and for the gaiety of its songs...
(Hackett, 1998) - Oedipus TyrannusOedipus the KingOedipus the King , also known by the Latin title Oedipus Rex, is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed c. 429 BCE. It was the second of Sophocles's three Theban plays to be produced, but it comes first in the internal chronology, followed by Oedipus at Colonus and then Antigone...
with Paul WoodruffPaul WoodruffPaul Woodruff is a classicist, professor of philosophy, and dean at the University of Texas at Austin, where he once chaired the department of philosophy and has more recently held the Hayden Head Regents Chair as director of Plan II Honors program, which he resigned in 2006 after 15 years of...
(Hackett, 2000) - CloudsThe CloudsThe Clouds is a comedy written by the celebrated playwright Aristophanes lampooning intellectual fashions in classical Athens. It was originally produced at the City Dionysia in 423 BC and it was not well received, coming last of the three plays competing at the festival that year. It was revised...
(Hackett, 2000) - The trials of SocratesSocratesSocrates was a classical Greek Athenian philosopher. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of later classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon, and the plays of his contemporary ...
: six classic texts, with C D C Reeve and James Doyle (Hackett, 2002) - Theban Plays with Paul Woodruff (Hackett, 2003)
- Four Tragedies: ElectraElectra (Sophocles)Electra or Elektra is a Greek tragedy by Sophocles. Its date is not known, but various stylistic similarities with the Philoctetes and the Oedipus at Colonus lead scholars to suppose that it was written towards the end of Sophocles' career.Set in the city of Argos a few years after the Trojan...
, PhiloctetesPhiloctetes (Sophocles)Philoctetes is a play by Sophocles . The play was written during the Peloponnesian War. It was first performed at the Festival of Dionysus in 409 BC, where it won first prize. The story takes place during the Trojan War...
, AjaxAjax (Sophocles)Sophocles's Ajax is a Greek tragedy written in the 5th century BC. The date of Ajax's first performance is unknown, but most scholars regard it as an early work, circa 450 - 430 B.C....
, The Women of TrachisThe TrachiniaeWomen of Trachis is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles.-Synopsis:The story begins with Deianeira, the wife of Heracles, relating the story of her early life and her plight adjusting to married life. She is now distraught over her husband's neglect of her family. Often involved in some adventure, he...
with Paul Woodruff (Hackett, 2007) - The Electra Plays: with Paul Woodruff and Cecelia Eaton Luschnig(Hackett, 2009)
Awards
- 1999: USC Honors College Mortar BoardMortar BoardMortar Board is an American national honor society whose purpose is to recognize outstanding students dedicated to the values of scholarship, leadership, and service. The Cornell University Der Hexenkreis chapter, founded in 1892, is the oldest and predates the national society's founding in 1918...
Teaching Award - 2000: Louis Galantiere Award for Oresteia, American Translators AssociationAmerican Translators AssociationThe American Translators Association was founded in 1959 and is now the largest professional association of translators and interpreters in the United States with more than 10,000 members in 90 countries....
- 2009: New York University Arts and Science Golden Dozen Teaching Award
- 2010: National Endowment for the Humanities Chairman's Special Award.