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Where else can a student director, living playwright, Euripides, and an ensemble cast come together? The Berea College Theatre Laboratory’s production of Troy Women opens Wednesday, November 19th and runs through Saturday, November 22nd. Performances are at 8pm in the McGaw Theatre, Jelkyl Drama Center
Troy Women is an adaptation by playwright Karen Hartman from translations of the classic Greek drama “Women of Troy” by one of the founding fathers of Greek drama, Euripides. The story follows the stories of Hecuba, Helen, Cassandra, and Andromache as they struggle against the horrific exploitations and violent actions of the men of Troy. Director, senior theatre major Sam Jenkins, said, “Troy Women is a very unusual piece because it tells the story from the captor’s point of view instead of focusing on the victors.” Jenkins said that Euripides wrote the play as a comment on subjects such as the effects of war on women in the Greek civilization.
Troy Women gives the audience a perspective from a mother’s, sister’s, and daughter’s point of view. These women have had to bury their husbands, children, and brothers. It is about the brutality and malice that the women have had to face. The all-woman chorus conveys the story’s history, but each of the chorus members is permitted a breath of life by the playwright. Not only are we able to hear an account of the historical ramifications on the women, but we tactfully and tastily are filled with the understanding that it is all women that are being affected.
The production is meant to evoke emotion so as not to be too cerebral to an audience. “I want them to be able to look at this play and say, ‘Wow, 3,000 years later this story is still important to what our lives are like now,’” said Jenkins. Jenkins said she has seen previous productions with various takes on the costumes and set. “What I wanted was a visual contrast to the spoken story that was being told,” said Jenkins, “This was an amazing civilization.”
Jenkins travelled to Greece last summer specifically for the purpose of gathering research and visual data to apply to her upcoming production. The trip was supported by the Paul Power Scholarship she received. “I wanted to be able to see the beauty, hear the stories, and realize what has been lost,” she commented. She wanted to translate this into her interpretation of the script. Today we do not know how important Troy could have been to the rest of civilization because they were swallowed by the Greeks.
The story of Troy Women is strewn throughout Greece on temples, pediments, and other forms of Greek architecture. It is a story about Greeks vs. The Other. One of the main facets of the play is the humanization of the enemies.
Jenkins is a senior theatre major graduating this December. She is taking a full load of courses, writing, directing, and editing a movie, working in the costume shop, and graduating soon. “Time management has become a main priority this semester,” she revealed. She also said that one of the biggest challenges was casting, “I believe 85 percent of directing is casting.” She chose people that were going to listen, work with her, and give her their time of day. The play is very much an ensemble piece, and Jenkins had to hand pick a cast that was going to work well together as an ensemble and have enough chemistry with each other to breathe a certain Greek air of life into the production.
Senior theatre major and cast member Nina Yarbrough in the role of Andromache said, “I am utterly grateful for being a member of this cast because I read the story last year and fell in love with the script.” Yarbrough expressed excitement for her fellow theatre major and friend saying, “I’m getting to see a very good friend of mine develop as a director.”
Another cast member and sophomore English/theatre double-major Adina Ramsey, part of the Chorus, said, “It’s such an intense play and I have to stretch myself as an actress, and it’s really interesting to see the progression. I love it.”
In order to bring the play to life and to obtain a different perspective and deeper meaning of the script, the playwright, Karen Hartman, was brought to Berea to view the play while it was still in the rehearsal stage. Jenkins was nervous at first to work with a living playwright, and she was most concerned about gaining reassurance that she had interpreted the script correctly. Hartman turned out to be an asset to the progression of the show. “She was very complimentary and she really helped me to focus in on a couple of things,” said Jenkins, “We had some very good conversations and she was very respectful of territory.”
Performances of Troy Women are November 19-22 at 8pm in the McGaw Theatre. Note the change in performance venue from previous advertisements. Tickets range in price from $5-$10 and can be reserved by calling the Theatre Box Office at (859) 985 3300 Monday through Friday 1-5pm and one hour prior to curtain. Admission for Berea College students has been pre-paid as part of their student fees, but a valid ID is needed to receive a ticket. A sign-interpreted performance is scheduled for Friday, November 21.
Note: Troy Women contains adult language and situations and is not suitable for children.
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