The city is in a state of crisis: a pandemic, endless wars, disastrous foreign interventions, and a terrible government controlled by wealthy oligarchs has just been defeated but the threat remains - the enemy is at the gates. Sound familiar? This is Athens in 405 BCE and the only thing that can save the city is, guess what? A PLAYWRIGHT! But which playwright? Euripides, the iconoclastic, modern radical, or Aeschylus, the elder statesman of the Athenian stage? Who will Dionysos, the god of the theatre, choose to raise from the dead and resurrect to come and rescue Athens?

Open your laptops, raise up your smartphones or place your thumb on your tablets and join us on a live highway to Hades for Aquila's brand new production of Aristophanes' brilliant musical comedy, FROGS.

This new translation by Aquila's founder Peter Meineck is directed by Aquila veteran James Lavender, who will be making some cameo appearances, and features James Becton, Andrea Bellamore, David Boyle, Daniel Cassidy, Reece Richardson. Virtual Creative Manager is Ralph Bogard.

Aquila’s artistic director, Desiree Sanchez guides us through a post-show talk on comedy at a time of tragedy with members of the Warrior Chorus veteran's program and founder and translator Peter Meineck, Professor of Classics in the Modern World, NYU and the cast.

Cast and Creatives

James Edward Becton (Euripides) a US born, USA Veteran, is a multi-unionized, National/international performance artist with over thirty years of accredited experience. His resume is as eclectic as it is diverse ranging from such roles as The Orange Honker in Sesame Street Live to Ritchie in A Chorus Line; from Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar to Jesus in Godspell; from Edmund the Bastard in King Lear to Odysseus in the Odyssey to Jack Worthington in The Importance of Being Earnest and the list goes on to include numerous Independent Films. At this juncture in his career, James Edward has ventured off towards theater ownership and as of January 5, 2021, The Becton, International Black Theater & Arts Consortium has officially been established! James Edward is beyond grateful to be able to collaborate again w/ Aquila, cast and crew for another adventure of Arts expression in these challenging times and invites everyone to enjoy the antics.

Andrea Bellamore (Aeschylus) is a New York City actor originally from the soulful city of New Orleans. She is a graduate of the Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts - BFA Acting conservatory. Her theater credits include: National Tour of A Midsummer Night's Dream and Frankenstein (Aquila Theatre), National Tour of The Grapes of Wrath, Cymbeline and Midsummer Night's Dream (American Shakespeare Center), Julius Caesar and As You Like It (Shakespeare’s Globe in London), An Octoroon, A Dream Play, Five Times in One Night (Rutgers Theatre Company), Our Warrior Chorus (Aquila Theatre) Twelfth Night (Stages on the Sound),Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (Mile Square Theatre). IG@andreabellamore

David Boyle (Dionysos) Recent Theatre credits include; Mr Paravacini In The Mousetrap (West End); Manuel in the Fawlty Towers; The Official Dining Experience (Uk tour &Edinburgh Fringe); Peter Sellers in ‘Being Sellers’ (Waterloo East Theatre and 59E59 Theatre NYC); Dame Dottie Trott in ‘Jack And The Beanstalk’ Pantomime (Millfield Theatre); Marty Feldman in ‘Jeepers Creepers’ (Leicester Square Theatre directed by Terry Jones); Inspector Corner in ‘The Phantom Raspberry Blower Of Old London Town’ (The Other Palace); Anthony Newley in ‘The Fool Who Dared To Dream’ (Gatehouse Theatre & Edinburgh Fringe); Little Voice (Oxford Stage Company). Recent Film and TV credits include; Call The Midwife (BBC) Holby City,(BBC)Urban Myths (Sky Arts) Cradle To Grave (BBC) Film School (M4 West).

Daniel Cassidy (Xanthias) is a Liverpudlian actor and musician. Graduating with a degree in Accounting and Finance in 2016, Daniel has performed in theatres across the North West of England and most recently in Aquila’s 19/20 US tour. Training includes David Johnson, Dan Bradford and Francis Tucker. Theatre credits include: 1984 (Aquila Theatre); The Odyssey (Aquila Theatre); Bottleneck (Hiding Place Theatre); Thorn (Oldham Coliseum Studio); Those Two Weeks (Gladstone and Unity Theatres). Film credits include: Being Keegan (Stephanie Zari). 

James Lavender (Director) Theatre credits include: As You Like It, An Enemy Of The People, Hamlet, The Tempest, Sense & Sensibility (Aquila Theatre Company); The War of The Worlds (dotdotdot); Sleeping Beauty, (Rhodes Arts Complex); Loves Labours Lost, Twelfth Night, Comedy Of Errors, The Importance Of Being Earnest (Oxford Shakespeare Company); Peter Pan, Cinderella, Jack & The Beanstalk (Sheringham Little Theatre); Henry V (Antic Disposition); Much Ado About Nothing (Lord Chamberlain's Men); Philoctetes (BAM New York); Macbeth (Judson Theatre, New York); Adventures in Wonderland, Supermarket Shakespeare (Teatro Vivo); Aladdin (Hazlitt Theatre); The Taming of The Shrew, As You Like It (Groundlings Theatre); Jack and the Beanstalk (Millfield Theatre); Headlines (BAC); Sleeping Beauty (Georgian Theatre Royal); The Jungle Book (Birmingham Stage Company); The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Greenwich Playhouse); Plebians Rehearse the Uprising (Arcola Theatre). Jamed trained at Rose Bruford.

Reece Richardson (Herakles) trained at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and The National Youth Theatre. Theatre Credits include: Only Human, (The Old Court), 1984, (Aquila Theatre, US National Tour), The Odyssey, (Aquila Theatre, US National Tour), The Claykickers Chorus, (Wild Thyme Productions), The Tempest, (The Lord Chamberlain's Men) Up 'n' Under, (Oldham Coliseum), Oh! What a Lovely War, (Oldham Coliseum), The Tempest, (Stafford Gatehouse Theatre), Closer, (Black Box Theatre York), Othello, (Stafford Gatehouse Theatre), Home and Beauty, (Pitlochry Festival Theatre), The Importance of Being Earnest, (Pitlochry Festival Theatre), The Lady in the Van, (Pitlochry Festival Theatre), A Little Night Music, (Pitlochry Festival Theatre), Macbeth (Young Shakespeare Company), Virtual Heroes, (Vienna’s English Theatre), No Naughty Bits, (Hampstead Theatre). Film Credits include: Hamlet (Globe Research Department), The Old Man of Waterloo (History in the Making), Dreaming of Peggy Lee (Big Mop Productions).

Ralph Bogard (Virtual Creative Manager and video editor) is an established creator and performer on the London and International stage, from fringe to the West End and some of the world's most renowned stages in various plays, musicals, performance projects, including interactive cinema events and some of the most loved Sing-Along film screenings. Some creative credits include working with The National Trust (Caravan Club), The National Archive (Suffragette City), The BFI (Musicals Season) and the Tate Modern (Red Dog Cafe Experience) amongst others. Recently he was the creative consultant and performance director for the BFI's Musical season in 2019/2020 which included events with many west end and screen stars. Some performance credits include ‘The Mystery of Edwin Drood’ (Arts theatre), ‘Midsummer Night's Dream’ (Shakespeare’s Globe), ‘Joseph and the amazing... coat’ (UK tour), Bugsy Malone (Secret Cinema), 'Ushers : The Front Of House Musical' (Charing Cross Theatre) ‘Promises Promises’ (Southwark Playhouse), Branded (Old Vic) The Process (Bunker Theatre) Something Something Lazarus (Kings Head Theatre) and Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens (Leicester Sq Theatre and Edinburgh) amongst many others. He also created the online zoom play 'Nightmares Before Xmas' and the drag themed escape room 'Drag Me Outta Here'. Most recently he played Dr Watson in Olivier award winning company Les Enfants Terribles online production of 'Sherlock Holmes : An Online Adventure'. Follow socials : @RalphBogard

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the city council.

The post show discussion has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom. (www.neh.gov.)

Aquila’s programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislator.