Show Members of the Salt Lake Scots pipe and drum band Torn Apart by War Trojan Women By Scott C. C Morgan Staff Writer Everyone knows the overused quote war is hell Yet to many Americans today the only experiences experiences experiences with war they may have is filtered fil filtered filtered fil- fil from the mass media or from a grandparents grandparent's memory This thought came to my mind while watching The Trojan Women at atthe atthe atthe the Lab Theatre which closed recently On opening night many audience members appeared indifferent ent and unresponsive to the stage on-stage suffering and pain of the characters Although the actors appeared to be working hard at performing the their r various various various var var- ious roles much of the audience did not really seem to show any empathy for the characters I myself felt distanced from the characters during the first act not unlike the stoic gods Poseidon and Athena portrayed by Kent and Erika Bryson that gaze stoically on the tragic proceedings For the sec second nd act I moved from the upper row to the lower row of the theater Being on the same level as the actors helped somewhat but I still felt alienated by the production This could be because I am not familiar with the traditions of Greek theater or that my memory of Greek mythology surrounding the Iliad is shaky at best But whatever th reason reason reason rea rea- son Euripides' Euripides powerful condemnation tion of war did not really come across to tome me Despite my own inability to connect connect connect con con- to the characters there were many things to admire in jn the tion In the small space of the lab theater theater theater the the- ater director Suzanne Mckenna has staged a stately production that does not paint the war widows just as vic vic- tims McKennas McKenna's staging of cradling her dead grandson recalled of Pieta imagery Michelangelo's which was an unforgettable moment in the production In the role of Queen McCarthy had a powerful stage presence that guided the production The rest of the acting ensemble also performed their various parts well notably Adam Woolsey Natalie Stewart and Trina Marie Lowry The aerobic choreography by Aimee Durrant Durrani and Danell Hathaway under the supervision of Tess Golata creatively mirrored the crazed state of Cassandre performed by extremely flexible members of the Dance Company Unfortunately the other dance numbers numbers numbers num num- bers didn't really seem to gel with the rest of the production The musical score by Helen was nice helping to heighten the drama a certain certain certain tain number of points in the production production production tion particularly Little Bird Birdsong song Unfortunately I was sitting next to the speaker that piped in th synthesized music which made some of the singers singer's lyrics gible W. W Lance Godfreys Godfrey's unspecific set filled the partial theater-in-the- theater round space well while Chip Dances Dance's lighting was skillfully moody The other production values such as costumes and sound design were also very high Even though I was not moved greatly by the characters characters' stories in inThe inThe inThe The Trojan Women the production did make me think about my own perceptions of war and how they are 10 shaped by the mass media and soci soci- ety And for that reason I applaud production of The Trojan Women to make an audience think of the negative effects of war that are often glossed over in other r 7 4 I K 3 r jj jj's s gR i a q 4 I U qs McCarthy portrayed Queen in the Lab Theatre production of The Trojan Women |