The Trojan Women - playwrights and pictures
⊆ July 18th, 2007 by gwen | ˜Happy Wednesday, everyone!
Trojan Update
The cast and crew have finally gotten our Artist’s Passes (which allow us to see other Fringe shows for a small discount). The eternal struggle has begun: which shows to see? Of course you have to start with the plays that your friends are in, and work out from there, but that doesn’t take into account the out-of-town shows and unexpected buzz. Some of the most interesting and striking work I saw last year happened entirely by chance - I saw 14 shows, and about half of them were complete surprises.
Of course, this year we have several members of our cast who are in other Fringe plays, but I’ll get into that tomorrow. Under the cut: another story from the director, and some lovely photos from the invited-dress.
Meeting the Playwright
Our translation of The Trojan Women was written by Ellen McLaughlin, who our director happened to meet at a conference earlier this summer. Rachel’s story: “I attended the TCG National Conference in early June and was packing up my belongings after a session on black box theatres, when I looked to my right - and there was Ellen McLaughlin sitting two seats down from me. I am not one to interrupt someone’s day with a “Hi… it’s great to meet you… I am a big fan,” but it seemed like too much of a sign. (In our recent “struggles” in rehearsal, we have been invoking her spirit/energy in rehearsals… even going so far as to nick-name her.) So I respectfully excused myself for interrupting her and introduced myself as currently directing her Trojan Women and enjoying her translations/adaptations. She talked with me for a good 10 minutes while walking back to the main building, and shared her email address in case I had any questions/thoughts about the show. I so appreciated her openness. I was looking forward to getting back to the ensemble and finding out what questions did we really wished to pose to her. I left a message on Wyckham’s cell describing the exchange, which she played for the cast. Word on the street was that there was much jumping up and down and screaming with disbelief. We are a refined group.”
Invited-Dress
Because of our extended rehearsal schedule, and the various other commitments of the cast and crew, we ran an invited dress rehearsal in late June. We wanted to get the entire show on its feet with partial tech in front of an audience. There was a guided talk-back with audience response after the performance, using the structured format that the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange has developed. It was an interesting experience for all of us to share what we’ve been working on, although Rachel emphasized that this was another rehearsal and not a polished performance. The audience was very responsive, arguing about the meaning of the play or questioning choices made by the actors or the design team. The invited dress was held at the Round House Theatre in Silver Spring. The pictures below were taken by Danisha Crosby.
Hecuba, the women, and Andromache (Wyckham Avery, Gwen Grastorf, Danielle A. Drakes, Rachel Miller, Tina Renay Fulp, Wendy Nogales, and Sabrina Mandell)
Cassandra prophesies the future (Elizabeth Johnson, Wendy Nogales, Rachel Miller, and Tina Renay Fulp)
Poseidon comforts Hecuba (Mark Jaster and Wyckham Avery)
Okay, that’s all for today,
In our next update: Two-timing Trojans
