Exploring the depth of wartime suffering and human trafficking, The Trojan Women by Euripides and adapted by Ellen McLaughlin, will open the 2017-2018 performance season for the College of Charleston’s Department of Theatre and Dance. The season’s theme, Sustain This!, supports the College’s sustainability literacy initiative, which aims to equip students with the knowledge and skills to solve future challenges of social justice, economic disparity and looming environmental concerns. The department is committed to exploring these critical challenges this season and every season.
In The Trojan Women, the ten-year siege of Troy during the late Bronze Age has ended. The men of Troy are gone, most slain in battle or during the bloody night of the Trojan Horse. Only the women remain, waiting to be taken away by their conquerors while grappling with grief, fear and the loss of family, friends, husbands and lovers. Though the war is over, exile and degradation lie ahead for these women.
The production is for mature audiences and will run September 21-25, 2017 Sept. 28-Oct. 2, 2017 (new dates due to Hurricane Irma). Curtain times will be 7:30 p.m., except the Sunday show at 2:00 p.m. only. Performances will take place at the Emmett Robinson Theatre in the Simons Center for the Arts, 54 Saint Philip St. A talkback with cast and crew will take place on opening night.
Admission is $20 for general public; $15 for senior citizens College of Charleston employees and non-College of Charleston students; $12 for College of Charleston students. Tickets can be purchased online, by calling 843.953.6306 or emailing oleksiakm@cofc.edu. Subscriptions are available for the 2017-2018 season. Learn more.
Inspired 20 years ago by the effects of the Bosnian War, McLaughlin’s adaptation of this timely and timeless play reflects experiences that seem to have always been a part of the human condition: war, separation, rape, slavery, grief, and the will to survive. In relation to her adaptation, McLaughlin was a recipient of a Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Writer’s Award in 1995, which enabled her to lead dramatic workshops for refugees from the former Yugoslavia. Currently, she teaches playwriting at Barnard College, having held prior teaching positions at Princeton University and Yale School of Drama.
The College’s production of “The Trojan Women” is directed by theatre faculty member Evan Parry, who describes this production as “an examination of the worst and best aspects of the human condition, as well as the plight of women during and after warfare, and their objectification in cultures worldwide.”
“The production seeks to depict human trafficking and the forced migration of refugees as part of the College’s sustainability literacy initiative.”
The design and dramaturgical team includes faculty member Ellen Iroff Swick (costumes) and Michelle Ramos (choreography), graduates Claire Ahlin (lighting) and Christina Matthews (costumes) and current students Felise Horne (scenery) and Leon Williams (dramaturgy). The stage manager for the production is student Meagan McMahon.
Principal actors include a Chorus made up of outstanding Theatre Performance and Dance Performance majors, as well as Abriana Quiñones (Hecuba), Kirstin McWaters (Cassandra), Mary Pumper (Helen), Bess Lawson (Andromache), Liam Aidan Toumey (Poseidon) and Joel Watson (Talthybius).