Women of Troy

Upon entering the village hall, the audience was immediately transported into a timeless “other dimension”: an eerie, atmospheric mixture of Ancient Greece and a modern day psychiatric hospital. Having no stage, the set became as an extension of the audience itself, and so, watching the play as the story unfolded, it felt as if one was in the room with these unfortunate women.

The cold grey/white colour of the walls worked really well, creating a powerful image by the swirling effect of the painted set, giving it the feel of the ancient, although taking place in a minimalist, modern, anonymous room. It was simple, yet detailed, with a little Greek statue on the bookcase reminding us of the origins of the story, together with the mesmerising rocking horse. When this started to rock, seemingly without the aid of human intervention, it was a brilliant, spine-tingling opening to the drama - the audience given enough time to take in the meaning of the scene before the actors expanded on the story - a truly inspired piece of direction from newcomer Chrissie Waites.

This play was certainly a labour of love for Chrissie, She not only wrote and directed it, but also co-designed it with Mark Ratcliff, as well as having to step in and take on a well-executed acting role as Cassandra. The result was a stylized tableau, brought to life with the back stories of the in-patients of the hospital. It was a bold, ambitious debut and could be interpreted in various ways. It was difficult at times to know if the intention was to see the hospital as an allegorical setting for the horrors of war, or merely as a location for abused and displaced women to play out their stories. There were quite a few loose ends, touched on but left unresolved. The play opened with a strong, well-delivered monologue from Steve Foster, as Poseidon, and the discussions at the beginning of the play and the second act between him and Jaki Newman, ably playing his colleague Pallas, suggested that the other doctors were heading for punishment, although this was not developed any further. It was somewhat confusing for the audience to keep up with who all the Ancient Greek protagonists were: most of us had come across them at school but had long since forgotten their place in the plot. Perhaps a paragraph in the programme giving a synopsis of the original story would have helped. However, although Chrissie, having adopted the premise of setting it in Troy Ward of the hospital, had to follow it through with all the necessary references, the story remained compelling when listening to the various patients’ horrific experiences that had brought them to where they were when we met them.

It was a convincing portrayal of a group of women, being treated - or mistreated – for madness. It was hard to know which of them were feigning madness for their own safety, and which of them were truly mad, and this is the result of some impressive acting. Vanessa Walker showed promise as Hecuba, having a difficult part to play as the lynchpin for all the other characters, competently played by Jenna Young, Mita Upadhyaya, Ginny Elliston and Renee Joyce, each with their individual personal quirks, and not one of them breaking character during the whole performance, acting even while not being directly involved in the scene. They are all to be commended. The group of women were directed well, with good use of the various levels the set provided, although there was a tendency for those in the background to be blocked by the main actors of the individual scenes.

The costumes were very effective, each with a subtle difference to suggest institutionalisation while at the same time giving them an individuality. There were multiple allusions to the violence and abuse that had been meted out to the women, but this was not echoed in the appearance of the patients, who showed no outwardly visible signs of the beatings or worse that they had been suffering. Their grey costumes were perhaps a little too pristine, but that said, it did in fact work to fit in with the general look of the whole piece of theatre, in the style of a modern Ancient Greek performance.

The use of song added to this modern interpretation of the traditional. The women sang beautifully, in a very haunting and effective way.

Perhaps the most moving scene was with Jo Gladstone as Andromache, skillfully acting out the cradling of her “baby” until she was forced to give it up. Mark Ratcliff portrayed Talthybius, the doctor who had to take it from her, really well, as he conveyed the different emotions he had to deal with while obeying the orders of his superiors.

The breaking down of the set during the interval was done in such a way that it added to the story it was telling, as Troy Ward was being slowly shut down. However, it was a shame to see the set being prepared for the next evening’s performance as soon as the curtain call had been taken, while the audience was still in the room.

Overall, it was great to see this refreshingly different production, two years in the making due to Covid, finally getting the showtime it deserved. Well done to all involved, and many thanks for the welcoming reception I was given.

 

 

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