Randolph Academy's 'THE TROJAN WOMEN' to Open Today

Anybody expecting a "museum piece" from the Peter Pasyk-directed production of The Trojan Women at the 2014 Toronto Fringe Festival will be disappointed. While based on Euripides' 2,500-year-old classical text, the 1978 adaptation by celebrated poet Gwendolyn MacEwen also examines faith and individual choice through the experiences of the survivors. Dora-nominated director Pasyk and 16 emerging artists will honour the universal--and startlingly contemporary--themes inherent in the work but present it in a world that audiences find familiar: the here and now or, as Pasyk describes it, "tomorrow".

"There will be no togas in this show," says director Peter Pasyk. "I am interested in how classical plays are still relevant, and I balk at productions that seem to take a 'museum' approach to presenting a classical work. I find that approach alienating.

He continues, "We live in precarious times and, judging by these early years of the 21st century, it seems we've learned little from the overwhelming wars and atrocities of the 20th century. Why? What if these conflicts end up on our own doorstep? Trojan Women has survived the ages because it poses fundamental questions for all of us that remain yet unanswered."

Theatre and film director Peter Pasyk is the Artistic Director of surface/underground theatre for which he directed the Dora-nominated productions of Dying City, When the World Was Green, andThe Jones Boy. Peter directed the world premieres of Rosa Laborde's Like Wolves at the GCTC in Ottawa, and Jordan Tannahill's Late Company at Summerworks 2013 (Awarded: Best Production,NOW Audience Choice Award). Peter's productions have earned a total of 7 Dora Award nominations including Outstanding Direction; also Peter was nominated for the Pauline McGibbon Award, and the John Hirsch Prize for his work as a director. Peter is the Urjo Kareda Artist-in-Residence at Tarragon Theatre for the 2013/14 season.

The Trojan Women centres around the harrowing aftermath of the decade-long Trojan War, where the women of Troy--mourning the slaughter of their families and the destruction of their city--search for meaning as they wait for the conquering Greek army to ship them off as slaves and concubines of their enemies.

The troupe of emerging artists who form the cast are all in their final year of training at the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts' Triple Threat® College Program. Randolph Academy Presents' 2012 and 2013 Toronto Fringe productions both received NNNN ratings from Now Magazine.

The cast includes Julia Beaulieu, Liane Charette, Sarah Cruickshank, Luiz DaSilva, Milton Dover, Victoria Dunsmore, Avery Dupuis, Tyler East, Lindsay Frederick, Jacqueline Godbout, Lauren Kannwischer, Demi McIntosh, Melly Magrath, Carolyn Purvis, Taylor Routledge, and Caitlin Turner.

The production runs from July 2 to July 13.

Randolph Centre for the Arts -- Annex Theatre, 730 Bathurst Street, Toronto