REVIEW

The Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival proves that Greek drama isn’t just for study with an amazing production of Euripides’ “The Women of Troy.”

“The Women of Troy” takes place after the fall of Troy as the royal women, being divided among the top Greek officers as prizes, await news of their fate. They each get to tell their stories. Some plan to seek vengeance on the Greeks by pretending to be faithful slaves or concubines, while others are more resigned to their fate.

It makes for a great showcase for the women of the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, including Miranda McGee as the queen Hecuba, Sara Clark as her daughter Cassandra and Kelly Mengelkoch as Andromache.

Helen of Troy, much despised by the other women because it was for her rescue that Troy was decimated, has been condemned to death and makes a plea for mercy. Hayley Clark plays her as a cunning vixen, playing innocent and dumb but with an undercurrent of wily manipulation.

The acting is done more stylistically than realistically in many cases, giving the production a melodramatic surface, but underneath it bubbles the horrors and atrocities of war.

While still using the trappings of classical Greek theater — including masks and a chorus — CSC puts “The Women of Troy” in a modern context, supplementing Euripides text with excerpts of writings detailing the horrors of war in the modern era, from a child wandering Hiroshima just after the bomb fell to a woman’s story of being raped in Darfur.

“The Women of Troy” is inexplicably paired with “The Dumbwaiter” by Harold Pinter, the story of two hired killers (Jeremy Dubin and Josh Stamoolis) awaiting their assignment in a basement somewhere. They instead receive orders for food, as though they were in the kitchen of a restaurant, and so as to not blow their cover, they try to fill the orders as best they can.

The production lacks the power and focus of “The Women of Troy,” however. There’s not much chemistry between the two actors and director Giles Davies allows too much empty space, especially in the first half of the play. Pinter is all about what comes between the lines, and Stamoolis, especially, provides a lot of business that doesn’t add up to much.

These productions are presented as the first in the CSC Studio Series, an opportunity for the troupe to produce rarely-performed classical works — a most admirable endeavor, to be sure.

But if this evening’s performances were set up as a battle of the sexes, then the girls have won this round.

how to go
WHO: “The Women of Troy” by Euripides and “The Dumbwaiter” by Harold Pinter.
WHERE: Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival, 719 Race St., Cincinnati.
WHEN: Through Jan. 28.
COST: $18-$24.
MORE INFO: (513) 381-2273; cincyshakes.com.

A version of this story appeared in the Go! section of the JournalNews, Hamilton, Ohio.