The Department of Theatre Arts, University of Hyderabad presented their annual production ‘The Trojan Women’ from 20 October 2017 to 27 October 2017 at Studio No. 2 in the department. The play, which is the story of a dethroned Trojan queen Hecuba and the sacked city of Troy, was enacted by the third semester students from the department.
The Trojan Women’ has been written by Euripides, who was a tragedian of classical Athens born in Salamis in 480 B.C. He is identified with theatrical innovations that have profoundly influenced drama, especially in the representation of traditional, mythical heroes as ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. The play is about the women of Troy whose city has been sacked, their family members killed and those who live are about to be taken away as slaves by the Greek army.
The play was directed by Noushad Mohamed Kunju, presently working as an Associate Professor in the Department of Theatre Arts. He is a prolific actor and has acted in several plays including Kuo Pao Kun’s The Spirits Play, Singapore, Transformations, Portrait of Dora, etc. In his Directorial note, Noushad Mohamed said, “I felt that the students were completely unified by the group dynamism and that’s the reason the process was very smooth. Everybody tried in sustaining the group energy and it was a pleasure to work with the students. I wish that they continue to work with the same ensemble spirit and be ready to face the challenges in future.”
The characters beautifully incarnated the emotions of trauma, melancholy and survival through their acting skills leaving the audience enthralled.
Brighid Burkhalter, SIP student, who played three roles in the play ecstatically describes her experience by saying, “I feel so lucky to have gotten the opportunity to work on this production with this group of artists. This process has been unlike any other work I have done and has made me grow as a performer and inspired me for future work.”
While encouraging the artists and appreciating their work Lakshmi Priya, M.A. Communication student who watched the play, opined that she thoroughly enjoyed the performances and claimed it to be the best production of the theatre group so far.
The play was an enormous success due to the efforts of faculty members and students from the department.