Catharsis Through Carnage: THE TROJAN WOMEN

Going in to see Hudson Warehouse's production of Trojan Women by Charles Mee, adapted from the Greek play by Euripedes, with additional material by director Nicholas Martin-Smith, I had to steel myself for what I presumed would be 90 minutes of unrelenting gloom.  Even for someone who's invested in feminist issues in arts and entertainment, it seemed I was in for a daunting afternoon.

Walking in to the alley set-up of the playing space, my concerns seemed justified, as several war-torn women were scattered about on the floor: listening to music, playing cards with scraps of paper, comforting a child.  The world had been destroyed, and we were invited to sit contemplatively inside it.

And yet imagine my relief when the play began: and Danielle Cohn as Helen of Troy stepped forth in a black slip and kitten heels, singing a jazz tune and waltzing through the battered women to take her place reading a magazine and waiting in a lawn chair.

This, then, is Martin-Smith's vision: not unrelenting gloom - although the play pulls no punches as woman after woman comes forth, explaining what it's like to see their children ripped from their arms - but something softer.  A quilt, a tapestry, a weaving of song and dance and sorrow and grief and horror and pain and ecstasy and innocence and loss.  In a word: catharsis.

To single out any member of this ensemble seems an act of needless individualism.  It's clear, even without chatting with the actors after, that this group worked well together throughout the process to bring a single vision to the stage.  Still:

Roxann Kraemer as Hecuba does her best work yet, grounding the chorus of women as the deposed monarch, while Lisa LaGrande gives a soul-gutting performance as Andromache whose infant is ripped from her side.  The aforementioned Danielle Cohn as Helen of Troy is by turns hilarious, opportunistic, and convincing as the woman who will do anything to survive - and does.  As a chorus, Emily Sarah Cohn, Ayako Ibaraki, Karen Collazzo and Linda Elizabeth create distinct characters - aided by costuming by the exquisitely talented Emily Rose Parman, here doing some of her best work by far. 

Hecuba's two daughters, Polyxena, played by Patrina Cruana, and the "mad prophetess" Cassandra, played by Callan Suozzi-Rearic, each give stellar performances.  Caruana taking on the fearlessness that only innocence can give, making her demise that much more lamentable.  Suozzi-Rearic astounds as Cassandra: entering in a powerful blast, full of manic glee and fierce determination, bravely sporting a hospital gown and broken IV.  Although her scene is short, it feels like an entire play in itself and is worth the price of admission alone.

But what of the men?  Mee and Martin-Smith are unrelentingly unkind to their own sex.  And while some of the tirades against men seem a little trite, other parts of the exploration of what can drive a man to commit atrocities are full of poetry, pain and danger.  Thomas Daniels and Zack Krajnyak as two soldiers are appropriately vile, leering over the women and positively rejoicing in the rapacious nature that war affords them.  Ian Potter, in a star turn as the "civilized white man," the ambassador Talthybius, is positively chilling in his accountant-smiling explanations of why the women must submit themselves to slavery.  It's obvious his character thinks that he is above his two apish companions; and yet Potter allows the beast inside him to rise ever so casually in his eyes as he gazes too long at a captor, or "accidentally" trods on a woman's few belongings.

There's no hiding the beast in Caleb Carlson's Menelaus, who enters bare-chested and growling, sporting a leopard skin cape.  It's a bit much, but Menelaus is a bit much: having started a ten year war just to get back a woman who doesn't want him.  Conversely, Nate Mattingly as Aeneas gives us perhaps our only glimpse into how war can torment men, too.  It's a shame that Charles Mee has one of the few heroes of the Trojan War (such as any of them can be heroes) termed a coward and goaded on by Hecuba - who has now known such loss - to go forth and continue the act of war against the world.  One wonders if the same play in a woman's hands would have had Hecuba offering different advice to end bloodshed rather than continue it.  Still: any glimmer of hope is welcome by the end of a Greek tragedy!

Special credit must go to Linda Elizabeth, doubling as make-up/special effects designer.  The wounds, scratches, bloodstains, and all are incredibly effective, even up close.  Patrick Harman and Nathan Oesterle's fight direction is excellent, chilling, and precise - important factors in a play about violence.  The set and sound design help create an immersive experience for the audience, that is much appreciated.

Hudson Warehouse Theater Company's production of Trojan Women is excellent, and deserves to sell out its remaining shows.  Highly Recommended.

Trojan Women plays at Goddard riverside Bernie Wohl center, 647 Columbus Avenue, NYC, through Sunday, March 25, 2018.

Tickets through Eventbrite.

Roxann Kraemer as Hecuba, Thomas Daniels as Bill, Zack Krajnyak as Ray Bob, and Ian Potter as Talthybius in Trojan Women. (Photo courtesy of Susane Lee.)

Danielle Cohn and Caleb Carlson as Helen of Troy and Menelaus in  Trojan Women.  (Photo courtesy of Susane Lee.)

Read the Companion Article: "A Rebellious Romance: A Defense of Girly Narratives"

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