Classic Greek Drama, The Trojan Women, Opens April 20 at SIUE
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Department of Theater and Dance will present The Trojan Women at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 20 through Saturday, April 23 and at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 24 in Dunham Hall Theater on campus.
Written by Euripides, with a new translation by Nicholas Rudall, The Trojan Women presents a bleak and agonizing portrait of war's brutality inspired by a barbaric act of retribution committed on the Isle of Melos during the war between Athens and Sparta.
“The Trojan Women is one of the harshest plays ever written,” said Chuck Harper, production director and professor of performance in the Department of Theater and Dance. “It is also one of the boldest and most provocative. It was first performed nearly 2,500 years ago, yet sadly, it is always current. The Trojan Women can be set at any time in human history and it will resonate with global events.”
The masterpiece of pathos thrusts audiences into the pain suffered by innocent victims. Euripides's play follows the fates of the women of Troy after their city has been sacked, their husbands killed, and as their remaining families are about to be taken away as slaves. What follows shows how much the Trojan women have suffered as their grief is compounded when the Greeks dole out additional deaths and take the women away.
“We live, whether we choose to acknowledge it or not, in an epoch of war, genocide and atrocity,” Harper said. “The cast and I researched and discovered the profound, brave and haunting words of women who have been, and continue to be, victims of the worst imaginable war crimes. Their stories can be extremely difficult to listen to, but this makes them all the more important to share.
“Our wish is to present an evocative rendition of Nicholas Rudall’s beautiful and poetic translation of this classic work, and also to build on this poetry with the first-hand accounts of women who suffer these same crimes today,” he explained.
General admission is $12 for those 18 and older and $10 for seniors, non-SIUE students, retirees, alumni, faculty and staff. Admission for SIUE students is free with a valid Cougar ID. Discounted tickets are available for groups of 10 or more with an advanced order.
For tickets or more information, email theater-tickets@siue.edu or call the Theater and Dance Department box office at 618-650-2772 or 1-888-328-5168, ext. 2774.
