Athens has been at war with Sparta for 16 years; here we are talking about before accurately recorded history. War depends on who is telling the story. Here it is told by the Trojan women and children left behind in Athens by the soldiers who fled or that had been killed in battle. And their fate, as individuals or part of the collective, has many perspectives. Here we have the perspective told from the personal point of some of the better-known of the Trojan women who have been left behind.
Whatever the audience needs to know about the story, action and relationships is provided by superscript in various places throughout the theatre.
Trojan Women is both elegant and overwhelming. The massive structure and very suggestive video used here lends itself to the atmosphere more than to any utilitarian setting. The story itself becomes secondary to the production itself.
Of more importance and interest are the performers, fifteen in all, and the musicians, at least 10, led by an incredible artistic and technical team: Director Ong Keng Sen, writer Bae Sam-sik, Pansori composer Jung Jae-il, choreographer Wen Hui, set designer Cho Myung-hee, lighting designer Scott Zielinski, sound designer Austin Switser, costume designer Kim Moo-hong, hair and make-up designer Park Hyo-in and Lee Hae-in and the rest of the technical team. Needless to say, a very large collection of talent has been the gift-giver of this production.
“Pansori is a Korean genre of musical storytelling performed by a singer and a drummer. The term pansori is derived from the Korean words pan 판 and sori 소리, the latter of which means sound." This is a style fairly challenging for the western ear, and therefore more intriguing. The sights (costumes, set, staging) and sound (the singers and musicians) are startlingly beautiful. Mind you, the western viewer needs to do a little bit of work to open to this new “opera”.