Prenzie’s ‘Trojan Women’ is emotional, powerful
by David Burke
For a theater company that has developed a reputation over the past seven years of unconventional storytelling, Prenzie Players’ production of Euripedes’ “Trojan Women” seems comparatively traditional.
Even though there are a few unique staging aspects to the show — the audience is seated on risers on the actual stage of the Village Theatre, with most of the action taking place on the constructed stage below; many entrances are made from the “top” of the audience seating; a pre-show has soldier characters building a prison while heavy metal music plays — there are none of the visual nonsequiturs that have become a Prenzie trademark.
But after seeing the passionate, emotional hour of theater produced by director Jill Sullivan-Bennin and her cast, I didn’t really miss the gimmicks.
The show, translated by Richmond Lattimore, is played very straight by the performers, most notably Dee Canfield as Queen Hecuba.
A large majority of the drama’s emotion is in the veteran’s capable hands, from her anguish at the killings of her offspring to fearing for her own safety.
Other emotional weight is carried by John Turner, in an opening monologue as Poseidon, the god of the sea; Stephanie Moeller, as Cassandra, one of Hecuba’s daughters; and Amy Ferrar as Andromache, Hecuba’s daughter-in-law.
And credit goes as well to youngster Samuel Javaherian as Adromache’s son, who effectively plays scared and then plays dead.
Although he doesn’t have the lengthy monologues of the other cast members, Scot Gehret is effective as Talthybius, a messenger from the Greeks and the only empathetic male character.
Even though they don’t have a large number of lines, kudos as well to Alaina Pascarella, Nichole Adkins, Kim Gackle, Kylie Jansen, Beth Woolley and Becky Wren in the title roles. They’re kicked, tossed about and bullied throughout the production, yet they maintain a resilience that encompasses the message of the play.