A scene of devastation. A threadbare city. A misty smoke covered it all. The women were asleep. Those were the first feelings to experience when the audience were watching the play “The Trojan Women”, adapted by Ellen McLaughlin from the play by Euripides; performed at the Burke Black Box Theatre in Granville, Ohio, from October 2-10, 2015. The director, the production team and the cast have done an excellent job in bringing the world of Athens and the devastated city – Troy, to the stage. The adaption by Ellen McLaughlin held fast to much of the original basic play by Euripides.
It tells the story about the fates of the women of Troy after their city had been sacked, their husbands killed, and as their remaining families were about to be taken away as slaves. Throughout the play, many of the Trojan women lament the loss of the land that reared them. The Queen Hecuba (Logan Creasman) in particular let it be known that Troy had been her home for her entire life, only to see herself as an old grandmother watching the burning of Troy, the death of her husband, her children, and her grandchildren before she would be taken as a slave to Odysseus.
I was thrilled by the costume design of Cynthia Turnbull. The costumes helped portray somewhat the ruins of Troy and established the style of the play regarding the historical time period and the location the play was set. The actors weren’t wearing beautiful and colorful suits, but wearing the outfits that were collaged from pieces of rags. The clothes were hand stitched together from different pieces of clothing carefully and dedicatedly. I can tell by looking at the way they put the rags together.
Even the Queen – who was supposed to wear beautiful sets, is wearing dark clothes. This conveys the feeling of the characters. They cannot wear nice clothes when their homeland is destroyed and they had lost the dearest relatives. The dark color of the costumes brought the feeling of grief and hopeless – exactly what the women were experiencing. I was able to understand the nature of the characters by the way they dressed. It’s important that the costumes are consistent with all other elements to create an overall picture.
The sets, lights, costumes, need to be in the same world, and Cynthia Turnbull and the costume design team have done an excellent job in bringing that world into the stage with their creativity and dedication in every outfit that they made. The lighting design by Ying Hou also contributed a lot to the success of the play. Different sceneries were more realistic thanks to the excellent lighting. For example, the blue hues suggested ocean views in harmony with the appearance of Poseidon, the “God of the Sea” at the beginning, brought a realistic feeling to the audiences.
I was also very impressed with the use of the red lighting for the scene that Talthybius throw Astyanax (the baby prince) off to kill him. The red tone made this scene obsessive and unforgettable for me. The spotlights also played an important role in highlighting the actors. As there were always more than 9 actors on stage, it was so important that the lighting have featured them all. I also cannot forget to mention several blackouts during the entire play, which created anticipation to all audiences.
The stage is set in the center of the theatre, and not raised like the traditional stage. The Trojan Women was performed in a burke black box, which was a flexible theatre, where the rows of seat are placed four-side surrounding the stage, creating a close relationship between actors and audience. The narrow space also makes everything more lively. Because the actors didn’t use microphones, the audience can enjoy the best live choruses, which helps to convey the characters’ feelings better through the way they breath, talk and sing.
This kind of stage increased the involvement of audiences in the play. The audiences were so close to the actors, and as the actors went into and out of the backstage from different sides of the stage where audiences were sitting, I felt like I was also a witness of the event. The scene also had a lot of sandbags in the center and later the warriors move them away. Isn’t the dust from the sandbags portrays exactly what the atmosphere of a ruined city looks like? Other than that, the scenic design is quite simple so that the main focus could be the actors.
Another factor that contributes a lot to the success of the performance is the sound design by Aaron Robertson. Throughout the play, I particularly noticed the special sound created by the waterphone, an invention by Richard Waters and has appeared a lot in movie soundtracks, record albums and live performances because it contains a small amount of water that helps create vibrant ethereal sound (Waterphone). It’s interesting to me that the one using the waterphone in the play was the God of the Sea, Poseidon. It evoked the feeling of mystery, suspense and horripilation.
The sound helps stimulate reality and create illusion: it adds more reality to the play. I was particularly impressed with the performance of Zoe Deprez as Andromache. Zoe made a perfect transformation into the widowed princess Andromache. She was a poor mother who informed by Talthybius that her baby son, Astyanax, has been condemned to die. The Greek leaders are afraid that the boy will grow up to avenge his father Hector, and rather than take this chance, they plan to throw him off from the battlements of Troy to his death (Wikipedia).
She showed great extreme emotions when Talthybius took her only son from her. At the end, her last wish was to bury her pitiful son. This scene touched the deepest feelings of the audience. Who can’t be moved by the love from the mother? It was so heartbreaking that a mother has to bury her own son. If you are looking for a beautiful artsy play to see, I highly recommend you see “The Trojan Women. ” I had a great time enjoying the play and it satisfied my senses of art.
