Press Release – Trojan Women 18

Students Actors Perform World’s Oldest Anti-War Play

McLean, VA – Traveling Players Ensemble will present two public performances of The Trojan Women on March 17, and 18.

The Trojan Women explores the consequences of war, and womens’ relationship to war.  The two-weekend tour will perform will perform at venues with unique relationships to those themes, allowing the audiences and the high school-aged performers to engage in vital conversations.  Each performance is followed by a discussion with the cast.

On Saturday, March 17, at 11:00am, the Georgetown Day High School (4200 Davenport ST NW, Washington DC 20016) will host the performance, followed by a post-performance discussion led by AU Professor in International Service Barbara Wien.  

Professor Wien has worked to end human rights abuses, violence and war.  She is a practitioner-scholar with extensive knowledge of sustainable peace agreements and best practices in ending gender-based violence.  Her many credits include working for the US Institute for Peace and leading V-Day, the organization founded by Tony Award-winning actress and playwright Eve Ensler to end violence against women.  

This event is free, open to the public, and in the Forum.

The final public performance takes place on Sunday, March 18 in the Chapel Auditorium at The Madeira School, at 8328 Georgetown Pike, McLean, VA 22102.  Tickets are $10 at the door, and $5 for children 6 and under.  The festival begins at 3pm with the middle school performance class’ production of Winnie the Pooh & Friends by Judith Walsh White, and recommended for ages 6-12, followed by The Trojan Women at 4pm, which is recommended for ages 13 and up.

The Trojan Women by Euripides is widely considered history’s oldest existing anti-war play, as well as one of literature’s greatest tragedies, depicting the suffering and enslavement of women surviving the destruction of Troy.

Ten years of battle at the walls of Troy end with the disappearance of the Greek armies and the appearance of a gift: a wooden horse, pregnant with soldiers.  The Trojans invite their destruction behind their impenetrable walls.  In the aftermath of the ensuing bloodbath, a succession of powerful speeches by the captive women places cogent ideas about war in the mouths of female characters.

Other stops on the tour include Rockville’s Ring House, a Jewish retirement community, which includes holocaust survivors among its residents, and McLean’s Vinson Hall, a retirement community that serves many veterans and their families. 

Presented by Traveling Players Ensemble’s high school Classics in Performance class, the play features the talents of Maria Cannon (Chevy Chase, MD), Rebecca Connor (Fairfax Station, VA), Katie Elliott (Sterling, VA), Maereg Gebretekle (Silver Spring, MD), Allison Kinney (Reston, VA), Oscar Lynch (Reston, VA), Ariel Noble (Clifton, VA), Kyla Payne (Fairfax, VA), and Harry Stevens (Arlington, VA).  Directed by Jeanne E. Harrison, with set and costume designs by Jessica Kemp.

Traveling Players Ensemble is best known for its award-winning summer theatre camps, in residence since 2007 at The Madeira School, which train teens and pre-teens in classical theatre and then take them on tour to perform their shows.  Registration is still open for summer camp, for current 3rd through 12th graders.

Since 2003, the company has performed “Shakespeare in the Park” in Shenandoah National Park, as well as Colonial Williamsburg, Douthat State Park and many other locations.

In 2007, Traveling Players was selected by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) as one of 25 model summer arts programs in the nation.

For more information, visit www.travelingplayers.org or call 703-987-1712.

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