Displaying items by tag: The Trojan Women

I’m going to start with a bit of backstory.  In high school we all read (more or less voluntarily) The Iliad, Homer’s poetic exploration of a war that occurred during the Bronze Age yet continues to resonate with twenty-first century significance. Homer focuses (naturally!) on the guys:  heroic Greek Achilles and his lover Patroclus; Hector, prince and hero of Troy; Greek King Menelaus vs. Paris, Prince of Troy. The women are pretty much either pawns or plunder. The Iliad begins with Hector’s baby bro Paris swiping Helen, wife of Menelaus. Menelaus and Paris duel, intending Helen to be the prize, but when Paris is defeated, Aphrodite delivers him to Helen’s bed before Menelaus has a chance to kill him – a good example of the ambivalent outcomes when the gods and goddesses mix it up with mortals. THE TROJAN WOMEN actually begins with an introduction by Poseidon (Brian Weddington), god of the sea, and Rachel Sledd as Athena, goddess of war.

THE TROJAN WOMEN analyzes the costs of war through the trauma and grief of the Trojan women after their city has been sacked, their husbands killed, and their remaining families taken away as slaves. It’s set in a present-day hospital maternity ward that’s serving as confinement for troublesome females. The Chorus (Morgan Lavenstein), that hallmark of ancient Greek drama who provides insight into events both on- and offstage, appears as a woman vastly pregnant and chained to the bed.  She’s not best pleased at any of this, and no more tickled about rooming with Hecuba (Ashway Lawver), queen of vanquished Troy and vehemently unreconciled to its overthrow.

Ben Page is Talthybius, a Greek herald who pops in and out with news bulletins, each more hideous than the last. His is the task to reveal to the women their destinies: Hecuba will be given to the Greek king Odysseus, the widowed princess Andromache (Jazmine Mazique) is to be the concubine of Achilles’ son, and Cassandra (Liliana Mastroianni) is destined to become the conquering king Agamemnon’s doxy. Cassandra is clairvoyant, which one might assume to be an asset, but her mother has always dismissed her revelations as hysterical attention-seeking, especially as in such grievous times the future may not be something you really want to hear about.  Andromache, Princess of Troy, has just borne a son to her ex-husband ex-Prince Hector, and Talthybius must also break the news that her baby must die, as the Greeks fear he will grow up to avenge his father Hector. And Helen (Morgan Burkey), whose beauty launched a thousand playwrights, ends up back with her husband Menelaus (Marcus Castillo). There’s lots of babies around – we’re in a maternity ward, remember? – and babies are a natural outcome of the unbridled rape that is ubiquitous in wartime; in fact, it appears that the primary position of women in conquered Troy is prone. Plus, ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

OK, are you more or less caught up on characters and setting? cos I need to tell you about Eos Theatre Company. Their stated mission is ‘to shine light into the darkness of the human condition and to amplify women’s voices and stories’, and they’ve chosen THE TROJAN WOMEN as their inaugural presentation because it does both brilliantly. The four co-founders of Eos united at the first table read of The Trojan Women in February 2025. That production was not only fabulous but propagative as well: the four decided to remount the show and simultaneously create a brand-new, all-woman company, named EOS in honor of the Greek Goddess of the dawn who flies her chariot across the sky, pulling back the curtain of night to usher in the light of the sun.

Rachel Sledd is a born-and-bred Chicagoan who lived and acted between New York and Los Angeles until 2006, when she returned to her hometown. Ashway Lawver grew up in Los Angeles. Her passion for the art and study of Acting led her to Chicago to attend The School at Steppenwolf and she found in Chicago her true theatrical home. Morgan Lavenstein began acting in Baltimore at the ripe old age of 8. She attended The School at Steppenwolf and Chicago became her forever home. Morgan Burkey is originally from Texas. In 2017 she was accepted into School at Steppenwolf, where she met fellow co-founders Morgan Lavenstein and Ashway Lawver. Amazing, innit, how extraordinary people from far-flung origins are drawn together? Call it destiny, fate, or kismet, in this case it’s providential.

The production team was as superb as the cast. Co-founder Rachel Sledd was Director and Michael Lesko Stage Manager. Shayna Patel’s Set Design portrayed the ambience before the actors took the stage.  The story was encompassed by Mason Absher’s Sound; his choices of music interlocked perfectly and toward the end the impassioned sound pulled the storyline together, as did Garrett Bell’s breathtaking lighting effects.

Seeing THE TROJAN WOMEN was thrilling not only for the splendid play itself, but for the chance to witness the emergence of Eos, a feminist company whose development is sure to beguile and invigorate Chicago for years to come.

Running through April 18^th at Bramble Arts Loft

RECOMMENDED

This review is proudly shared with our friends at www.TheatreInChicago.com. 

Last night, while waiting in the tranquil lounge of the Bramble Arts Loft, a familiar question floated around the theatergoers: Does art imitate life or does life imitate art? It’s a philosophical question that has been around for ages. It probably passed through the minds of those who first saw the play some 2,000 years ago. It’s a question I never tire of. The debates change based on the context of the time it is asked, and the mindset of the individual. For no matter how many times it is asked, no two answers are ever alike; life and the medium are inextricably linked. There’s no better example of this currently playing in Chicago than The Trojan Women, the inaugural production of Eos Theatre Company, now playing at the Bramble Arts Loft.

Ashway Lawver as Hecuba. Photos by Steven Townshend / Distant Era.

A blisteringly relevant modern-day version of Euripides' anti-war play, The Trojan Women, has been rewritten and is set in a mother-and-baby unit of a prison. The war is over. Beyond the prison walls, Troy and its people burn. Inside the prison, the city's captive women await their fate. Stalking the antiseptic confines of its mother and baby unit is Hecuba, the fallen Trojan queen, whilst the pregnant Chorus is shackled to her bed. But their grief at what has been before will soon be drowned out by the horror of what is to come, as the Greek lust for vengeance consumes everything – man, woman, and baby – in its path. This caustic and radical new version of Euripides' classic tragedy comes from one of the UK's most exciting young poets, Caroline Bird, and is directed by Rachel Sledd Iannantuoni. It is an intense, gripping look at what happens when the world collapses.

Photo by Steve Townshend | Distant Era

The Trojan War is ancient history, relegated to stories retold through modern media countless times over. Yet the story of the war and The Trojan Women remains as relevant today as it did thousands of years ago. Euripides’ The Trojan Women takes place at the end of the war. Troy is burning while the city's captive women wait to be told their fate by the victorious Greeks, who penetrated the city walls hiding inside the famous Trojan horse. Caroline Bird’s modern adaptation of Euripides' 415 BCE tale sets the play in a Trojan hospital turned prison by the Greek invaders. “Her work is a fierce exploration of the complex intersections of class, gender, patriarchy, and nationality,” says Iannantuoni. “It is timely and timeless. Sometimes comical. Often absurd. Ultimately heartbreaking.” Superbly acted by members of the Eos Theatre Company, The Trojan Women is a production that will stay with you long after you leave the theater.

Photo by Steve Townshend | Distant Era

War is hell. While many of us might not experience it firsthand, we can empathize with the horrors it leaves in its wake, for war is as timeless as the stories that come from them. Yet again, we’re faced with a meaningless war started by the few and fought by the many. Yet again, humans are faced with unfathomable choices. Yet again, we both come together and tear each other apart over claims of moral and ethical superiority. The Trojan Women could have easily been written today. The plight of women in a patriarchal world is reduced to little more than incubators and spoils of war. The question of the role men play in war: protectors or pillagers? The questions of gratitude and honor, dignity and demise. The Trojan Women beautifully – hauntingly -- explores all of this and inevitably leads us to ask ourselves a single question: Does art imitate life or does life imitate art? See this incredible and timeless production, and let’s get together at Simon’s Tavern to discuss.

Unlike the Trojan War, The Trojan Women only runs through April 18^th at Bramble Arts Loft (5545 N Clark St 2nd Floor, Chicago). Ferry your ships and set a course for Andersonville to get your tickets and a glimpse of this tragically timeless tale today.

This review is proudly shared with our friends at www.TheatreInChicago.com.