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EXTRAORDINARY TROJAN WOMEN BY NATIONAL CHANGGEUK COMPANY OF KOREA AT BAM
Conceived and directed by Ong Keng Sen, Trojan Women is an epic passage through thousands of years of mythology and thousands of miles of culture, having been created from the original Greek play by Euripides of the sacking of ancient Troy in Asian turkey by the Greeks. This extraordinary opera is newly written for the National Changgeuk Company of Korea. From its Pansori origins of musical storytelling by a single person and drummer, this powerful work is personified by its minimalist style, fantastic cast, imaginative set, lighting, and video design. It draws the watcher into the story and does not let go until the lights go on in the theater. Its Monday and I am still thinking about Saturday.
Trojan women is about the disastrous effects of war on women: murder, violence, rape, and slavery. The director focuses on the rhythmic cycles of death and rebirth with a cast of extraordinary performers. Hecuba, played by outstanding Kim Kum-mi, has lost everything. She is the last Queen of Troy, which has been at war for ten years. Her husband and all her sons are dead. Her daughter and daughters-in-law will be taken to Greece in a few hours.
Ong Keng Sen pairs down the heaviness of classic European opera by using the style of Pansori, distilling the heaviness of war and the bleak future for the women…
