Trojan women
winter production 2020PERFORMANCES IN FEBRUARY 2020
February 9th & 16th at 18:00
February 8th, 14th, 15th, 20th, 21st, 22nd, 27th & 28th at 20:00
Running time: 95 minutes (no intermission)
Tickets now available at: Internationales Theater Frankfurt
War, it attracts the best and worst of our kind. Euripides tragedy takes a look at the aftermath, the loss, the atrocities, and the despair that the survivors must suffer through. Shakespeare Frankfurt is proud to present the European premiere of Alan Shapiro’s poetic translation.
Since the first human tribes fought over a mastodon carcass and access to water, we as a species have gone to war. Unfortunately, times haven’t changed. During the “Age of Heroes” the Greeks dealt with it nearly as often as we do today. Alan Shapiro’s poetic translation brings the elegant and rhythmic quality of Euripides work to vibrant life, while also creating a very modern sensibility to the text. Inspired by the religious elements of traditional Greek theatre, this tale drives forward to the obvious and eventual end of a civilization.
Director – PJ Escobio
Assistant Director – Varvara Pomoni
SHOW & TALK-BACK SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16TH @ 18:00
We are happy to announce that representatives from the organization DaMigra e.V will attend our show on Sunday, February 16th at 18:00 and we will host a talk-back afterwards about their experiences in relation to the themes of the play and learn about their mission and upcoming projects.
DaMigra is the umbrella organisation of 71 migrant women’s organisations. It has been operating since 2014 as a nationwide and origin-independent organisation and campaigns for migrant women’s interests in politics, the public, the media and business nationwide. It’s guiding principle and central goal is empowerment, which includes the equal political, social, professional and cultural participation of migrant women in the German society.
A NOTE FROM THE TRANSLATOR
ALAN SHAPIRO
GET TO KNOW OUR
CAST & CREW
ENSEMBLE
click for roles & bios
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Álex Hernández-Puertas
(Poseidon / Guard)
Álex is a multidisciplinary artist, given his varied experience as a director, actor, singer, poet, composer and playwright. He has received an array of awards for his play The Unfinished Masterpiece, his musical El Otro, the short film Company and several poems. Álex lives in Frankfurt, where he translates Nintendo’s most popular video game series into Spanish, including Animal Crossing, Fire Emblem, Paper Mario and The Legend of Zelda. His latest novel Mrs. Carrington is being published in early 2020.
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Anna Rogers
(Hecuba)
Anna’s interest in theatre started as a child, taking acting lessons and participating in various drama competitions, later passing exams of the Poetry Society and LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art). For the past 15 years she has worked as a voiceover artist and also developed an interest in directing and writing. Her plays have been performed in Europe and the USA. She has performed in London, Frankfurt and other European locations, including at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Previous roles with Shakespeare Frankfurt are Hovstad in Ibsen’s Enemy of the People and Ross in Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
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Carlos Paricio
(Menelaus)
Frankfurt and the ECB Theatre Ensemble, which he founded – together with friends and colleagues – in 2018. Carlos appears in his first project with Shakespeare Frankfurt. He embarks with Menelaus in his first dramatic role. So far, he has participated in projects in Spanish with “Interkulturelle Bühne (IKB)”, and in English with “Play-in-a-day Festival” with TLS. In addition, he has received theatrical trainings with WELT and TLS Frankfurt on scripted and improvisation theatre. “For me, acting means co-creation. We actors unveil parts of ourselves to embody the director’s story and honor the dramaturg’s words. It is, above all, an honest act of courage.”
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Esa Holstein
(Talthybius)
Esa comes from Finland and his first foray into performing arts was dancing and playing the piano. In Frankfurt, he took up improvisational theatre attending workshops at the Theatre Language Studio (TLS) where he was also involved in projects such as Play in a Day and the Staged Reading Series. He attended a course on the Meisner Technique at TLS and has also taken voice and performance classes at the LOFT Frankfurt. Esa has played in theatre productions at the Interkulturelle Bühne Frankfurt, the Bockenheimer Theaterensemble and the Volksbühne Bad Homburg. He joined Shakespeare Frankfurt for the Oct 2018 production of An Enemy of the People and also played in last summer’s Shakespeare in the Garden production of Macbeth.
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Eva Patterson
(Chorus member)
Eva Patterson has acted in three productions of the Goethe university's Chaincourt Theatre Company including Langdon Mitchell's The New York Idea, a stage adaptation of The Graduate, and Tone Death: a musical review. An experienced musician, she spends her free time singing while accompanying herself on the piano and practicing yoga. This is her first production with Shakespeare Frankfurt.
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Florentine Rössner
(Helen)
Florentine is currently studying at the Stage and Musical Academy in Frankfurt. She dances ballet, jazz and modern. She gave dance lessons to children during her last school year and was part of a theater group. She has always had a big interest in dancing and acting. This is her first time on stage as an actress, and she is very excited to be able to share this experience with such a wonderful cast!
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Jacqueline Teegarden
(Cassandra)
Jacqueline studied theatre at Bemidji State University and Minnesota State University, Mankato. She enjoys performing in a variety of pieces ranging from silent comedy shorts to musicals. Since moving to Frankfurt Jacqueline has performed in a number of shows as well as working behind the scenes. Most recently she played the part of Michal in Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman.
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Nathan Dodd
(Astyanax)
Nathan is a 12 years old student at the Metropolitan School of Frankfurt. He has always been fascinated by Drama from a very young age. As soon as he was able to stand on stage, he participated in every Drama / Musical production at school (including the roles of Captain Hook in Peter Pan, the phony physician in the same play and the mayor of Whoville in Horton Hears a Who). In June 2019, he participated in Macbeth by Shakespeare Frankfurt as the son of Macduff.
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Patrick Joyce
(Guard)
A linguist by profession, Patrick was drawn to the play by his love of history and mythology. Trojan Women is his first foray onto the stage in more than fifteen years and his first Shakespeare Frankfurt production.
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Samira Schubert
(Chorus member)
Samira started her involvement with theatre in school. After school, she acted in a local theatre group. Trojan Women is her first play with Shakespeare Frankfurt. Currently, she is doing a cultural year at the English Theatre Frankfurt and she plans to study at a drama school. Next to theatre, Samira’s hobbies include playing volleyball and singing.
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Shayana Gotterbarm
(Chorus / Musician)
Shayana is half Colombian and half German. She is currently studying comparative literature and English studies at the Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Universität Frankfurt. During her last school years, she developed a very big interest for theater, film and literature. She is interested in writing and directing. This is her second time working with Shakespeare Frankfurt and most recently she was Stage Manager for Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman directed by PJ Escobio.
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Vera Mark
(Andromache)
Vera has been involved with the theatre since she was a teenager. She has participated in numerous productions of FEST, the Frankfurt English Speaking Theatre, acting, crewing and directing. In 2016, Vera joined Shakespeare Frankfurt as Adrian in ‘The Tempest’ and in the past few years has served SF as stage manager and assistant director; now she is very pleased to return to the stage. In 2019, Vera was able to add a published sci-fi short story and two short films to her credits as writer/director. She is currently working on screenplays for a feature film and a TV series.
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Zeynep Turgut
(Athena / Chorus member)
Zeynep has trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles and attended classes at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford upon Avon. Trojan Women marks her first production with Shakespeare Frankfurt.
PRODUCTION
click for roles & bios
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PJ Escobio
(Director)
PJ is currently in preproduction for Shockheaded Peter at the English Theatre where he also directed Huck Finn and is on staff as their Shakespeare Instructor. He is the Artistic Director of Shakespeare Frankfurt for whom he will direct The Comedy of Errors in June. Other directing credits include: The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh, Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Othello, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tempest, Twelfth Night, Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People, Shakespeare in the Garden: Hortus Inclusus, Where, and Grounded by George Brandt. For 10 years he was the Artistic Director of Shakespeare Anyone? with whom he played over 30 different roles as well as produced and/or directed 18 different versions of the project. He cast and directed Undergraduate Playwriting Thesis projects at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts from 2007-2012. He was the Project Coordinator and Associate Artistic Director of WordBRIDGE Playwrights Laboratory from 2006-2012. He holds an MFA in Acting and Directing from the University of Missouri - KC.
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Varvara Pomoni
(Asst. Director / Stage Manager)
Varvara comes from Athens, Greece. Her training includes theatre improvisation at TLS Frankfurt, Meisner Technique with Maria Ott, classes at Stage & Voice Coaching in Frankfurt and masterclasses on Shakespeare and on Clowning techniques in UK. In 2019, she trained on Shakespeare's language with Michael Corbidge and on Meyerhold’s Biomechanics & Physical Theatre with the Ostrenko Brothers. She has directed the original play TCC-416 by PJ Escobio and she is an ensemble member of the silent clown piece WHERE. She was member of the improv group The Sidekicks and she has performed in FEST's productions of Our Country’s Good and And Then There Were None. This is her sixth production with Shakespeare Frankfurt and most recently, she played the role of Tupolski in Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman.
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Elisa von Issendorff
(Music Director)
Elisa began her involvement with English-language theater at the age of seventeen with the English Dramatic Society at University Erlangen-Nuremberg. She has performance experience as an actress and singer and directs a student choir. From 2018 to 2019, she was musical director for two musical productions, “Tone Death” and “College Collage,” of the Chaincourt Theatre Company and contributed music to the production of “The Scarecrow.” Since 2018, she has been a surtitles manager at the Frankfurt Opera and works as assistant dramaturge for individual productions. She is a student of theatre, film and media studies at Goethe-University Frankfurt.
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James Bailey
(Costume Designer)
Originally from Los Angeles, California, James has been on stage in various capacities for most of his life. Recently, James has performed with Frankfurt’s English Theatre, Shakespeare Frankfurt and FEST. In addition to theatrical productions, James has performed with various choirs in the United States and Germany. Despite the time spent performing, James' true passion is in composing: he has a degree in music composition from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington. He has won composition competitions, and had his music performed by ensembles in the US and Germany. Trojan Women marks his debut as costume designer for Shakespeare Frankfurt.
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Markella Katidou
(Production Assistant)
Markella was born and raised in Greece. Professionally, she is a scientist working in the pharma industry. Art was always part of her life since she was a child: painting, writing or playing the piano. The last 5 years she attended various improvisation theater courses with TLS Frankfurt and performed in a monthly improv show with the group The Sidekicks. In Trojan Women, she participates as production assistant focusing on prop construction, Greek culture consulting and more.
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Rosa Abruscato
(Production Assistant)
Rosa is 19 years old and she is an urban dancer. She recently got her Abitur at the Freiherr-vom-Stein Schule in Frankfurt am Main. Currently, she is doing an internship with Shakespeare Frankfurt. This is her first time working as Production Assistant and she is interested to gather as much as theatre experience and study acting.
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Bradley Latham
(Lighting Designer)
Brad is a public affairs specialist for the U.S. Army, returned to theatre in 2018 after a decade-plus hiatus. This is his second collaboration with PJ Escobio, having previously designed the lighting for the production of The Pillowman. He is a company regular for the Amelia Earhart Playhouse in Wiesbaden where he has performed both stage and technical work.
A SPECIAL THANKS
a special thanks goes out to…
Tracey Grey from Bringing You To Your Stage
Info on performance coaching and training:
https://www.bringingyoutoyourstage.de/
Jeff Book from Frankfurt English Speaking Theatre e.V.
Info for FEST’s upcoming production of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman:
https://festfrankfurt.org/productions/upcoming-production/
Nathan Records from Amelia Earhart Playhouse
Info for current and upcoming productions:
https://wiesbaden.armymwr.com/programs/amelia-earhart-playhouse
Stephan Junek: Photographer
Website for portfolio:
http://stephanjunek.com/
Judy Heimböckel: Set painter
Damian Ntuk: Set construction
Michael Kinzer: Trailer editing
Mathias Kunzler: Armorer
Leanne Maksin: Webmaster