Veterans’ Poetry Reading, Combat Photography on Display During ‘An Iliad’

Events connect today’s veterans to the Trojan War

Syracuse Stage will be hosting a series of events during the run of “An Iliad,” adapted by Denis O’Hare and Lisa Peterson, from Homer’s epic. The show runs in the Storch Theatre through June 9.

These events aim to show the ways in which war affects us today, and include an art exhibition by military photojournalist Stacy Pearsall and a poetry reading by the Syracuse University Veterans’ Writers Group. In addition, military families can get complimentary tickets to select performances.

Award-winning military photojournalist and Iraq War veteran Stacy Pearsall will have photography from her tours in Iraq and her travels to various military bases on display in the Sutton Pavilion throughout the run of “An Iliad.”

Pearsall is a graduate of the Military Photojournalism Program in the Newhouse School. There are 12 photos from five of her collections, including “Brotherhood and Buqubah, Iraq.” Pearsall’s photos have been featured everywhere from Time magazine to the Oprah Winfrey Show, and she was recently selected by the White House as one of the Women Veterans Champions of Change.

On Sunday, June 2, before the 2 p.m. performance of “An Iliad,” members of the Syracuse University Veterans’ Writers Group will host a reading of original work in the Sutton Pavilion. The reading will showcase work by veterans from the wars in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.

This event is a part of Syracuse Stage’s Blue Star Theatres program, which offers complimentary tickets, a pre-show reception and discussion to military families before select performances. This program is sponsored in part by the Central New York Community Foundation. There are three opportunities for military families to receive complimentary tickets to see “An Iliad”: May 18, May 29 and June 2. Veterans and their families can request tickets through the Blue Star link found at SyracuseStage.org.