(Mike Boehm’s article appeared in the Los Angeles Times, August 28, 2011.)
Now is the summer of our discontent. If you'd like a little theatrical relief from all that's ailing America's body politic, Anne Bogart and SITI Company are probably not your ticket.
Their new adaptation of Euripides' "The Trojan Women," which begins previews Thursday at the Getty Villa's outdoor amphitheater, aims to rekindle the original political intent of a play that drives home an unrelentingly dark vision of what war does to victims and victors alike.
Bogart has long been an experimental theater eminence, often trying to counteract what she sees as the American stage's tendency to reassure audiences and settle for low stakes. Her decision to direct "The Trojan Women" now has a lot to do with the dismaying events surrounding its premiere in 415 BC and how those times reflect the United States in 2011.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-trojan-women-20110828,0,1551102.story