University Theatre’s “The Trojan Women” contains themes of war that reach beyond ancient Greece and permeate into the world we know today.
Euripides’ classic Greek tragedy “The Trojan Women” opens Friday in the Weitzenhoffer theatre and will describe a familiar story to audience members, director Susan Shaughnessy said.
“All you have to do is turn the news on to see the situation of the Middle East, and I absolutely think we are talking about the same thing,” she said.
“The Trojan Women” focuses on the women left to deal with the desecration of Troy, the loss of their families as they are sold off as slaves and the deaths of their husbands. More specifically the play centers on Queen Hecuba and her daughter Cassandra, who embarks on a journey characterized by her prophetic gifts and enslavement as Agamemnon’s concubine.
“Euripides wrote the play because Greece was unnecessarily killing men, children and enslaving women," Shaughnessy said. "There are too many examples of genocide, oppression and violence. Look at ISIS, look at Africa, look at eastern Europe not too many years ago.”
Gabby Reyes, who plays lead character Cassandra, said coming in and out of Cassandra’s mindset as she encounters such a wide range of tragedy has been difficult.
“I am the most connected I’ve ever felt to a role, strangely," she said. "The madness and desperation intertwined within the character — but there are also moments of sanity and beauty and clarity within her mind.”
Reyes worked with Shaughnessy to find the delicate balance of lucidity and madness within her character, she said.
“I’m running around the stage, and I’m sweating and shaking," she said. "It’s something I never would have done last semester; I would have been scared to commit to something so outlandish.”
Kat Combs, who plays lead character Queen Hecuba, said figuring out how to physically portray classic theatre was part of her research.
“Greek theatre is a lot closer to the ground, you have a wider base, and the language is also really great," she said. "As an actor I get to dance the line between a classical style and a contemporary style which is cool for me.”
“The Trojan Women” offers a vantage point of war that isn’t often witnessed, Combs said.
“This is the result of everything getting taken away, and there’s nothing else (the women) could have done," she said. "What does that say about war, and what does that say about those fighting for peace and those fighting for the everyday things?”
Part of Shaughnessy’s research for the play involved looking through 12-15 translations of the play before she landed on a translation by Nicholas Rudall, she said.
“Many translations of Euripides' work are lengthy and overly formalized and very long," she said. "So it would be difficult for a contemporary audience to sustain themselves and stay interested.”
Working with the large chorus was also a challenge for Shaughnessy, she said.
“In this adaptation the chorus verses go on for a long time and function in different ways," she said. "We worked that out organically. Greek tragedy also involves a lot of circular motions and the Weitzenhoffer theatre is great for that.”
Reyes hopes audience members will come away from the play not only thinking of the tragedy caused by the Trojan war, but the contemporary examples of the same thing, she said.
“There are other people out there experiencing these things, and we are storytellers expressing how that story looks on us," she said. "It’s something the world needs to become more aware of if they weren’t before.”
