The Illinois State University School of Theatre and Dance will present Ellen McLaughlin’s adaptation of Euripides’ tragedy The Trojan Women, opening November 6, in Westhoff Theatre.
The Trojan Women will be presented at 7:30 p.m. November 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14, with a matinee performance at 2 p.m. November 8. The November 11 performance will be interpreted for the hearing impaired. Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for students and seniors, and can be purchased at the Center for the Performing Arts Box Office, by phone at (309) 438-2535, or online at ticketmaster.com.
The Trojan Woman tells the stories of the women of Troy directly after the city has fallen. The text was written by Euripides – himself a veteran – during a period when Athens did capture and enslave women and child survivors, and the playwright clearly asks his audience to reflect on the ethics of that practice. Ellen McLaughlin’s adaptation was inspired by the Bosnian-Herzogovinian war, and in its original staging was performed by survivors from all sides of that conflict. With the increasing numbers of refugees seeking safety and stability throughout the globe, The Trojan Women’s relevance in the contemporary world seems only more pronounced, as its characters journey forward amidst and after the devastation of war.
About Euripides’ original play, McLaughlin writes that it is “perhaps the greatest anti-war play ever written… and contains some of the most extraordinary roles for women in theatrical literature.”
The School of Theatre and Dance and the Theatre Connections program, in partnership the registered student organizations ISTOP (Illinois State Outreach Program) and LATA (Latin American Theatre Association), will collect new or gently used winter outerwear for new refugees in the Chicago area. Donations will be accepted at performances of The Trojan Women and in the School of Theatre and Dance office.
