On an off night from its New York City Premiere engagement, the Aquila Theatre company offers excerpted performances of scenes from this exciting new stage adaptation, and discusses the making of this exciting New York premiere. The production is directed by Aquila’s artistic director, Peter Meineck, a Katonah resident, who will lead the discussion. Afterward, the artists will join the audience in the lobby for a champagne and dessert reception.
Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 is a modern American classic. The term itself has entered the language as a description of a ridiculously cyclical situation. The book was first published in 1961 and immediately caused a huge furor in the literary world. Catch-22 tackles huge things with rich metaphors, boldly drawn characters and near-impossible situations. It is a work of great theatricality with superb language and a sense of dark surrealism. Heller dares to examine the very philosophy of war and what it does to the humans that fight them.