Jersey City – Michael Milligan, an actor in the Tony Award-winning Broadway play August: Osage County, will attend the Saint Peter’s College "Greek Theater Project" performance of Phaeton, an adaptation of the ancient Greek myth on December 8, 2008, at noon. Written by Milligan and directed by Casey Groves, an adjunct faculty member at Saint Peter’s, this production of Phaeton is the play’s first public performance. The performance will take place in the Roy Irving Theatre on the College’s Jersey City campus.
Milligan wrote Phaeton in iambic pentameter over a five-year period. The play is based on the ancient Greek myth of Phaeton, son of Apollo, who wildly drove the sun chariot across the sky, scorching both the earth and the heavens. Phaeton investigates emotions and relationships between visionaries and tyrants, as well as between fathers, mothers, sons, and lovers.
“Greek Theater Project" offers a series of workshop productions of ancient Greek and Roman plays three times per semester. The performances, given by Saint Peter’s students and faculty, are sponsored by the Constantinos C. Polychronis Foundation, which has provided funding to the College’s Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literature. Admission to the performance is free and open to the public.
Making his Broadway debut, Milligan currently plays the role of “Little Charles” in August: Osage County, the winner of the 2008 Tony Award for Best Play. Milligan is a native of Columbus, Ohio, and studied acting at The Juilliard School in New York City.
Saint Peter’s College, founded in 1872, is a Jesuit, Catholic college in the liberal arts tradition located in the heart of Jersey City, N.J., with a branch campus in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and course offerings on the Jersey City Waterfront and at various corporate sites throughout New Jersey. Educating over 3,000 undergraduate and graduate students in more than 50 programs, Saint Peter’s College is committed to academic excellence and individual attention, preparing students for a lifetime of learning, leadership and service in a diverse and global society.