Review by JK Clarke
The fundamental problem with Cry, Trojans!, The Wooster Group’s re-working of Shakespeare’s seldom seen Troilus and Cressida (which itself is a distilled version of The Illiad), is that rather than focusing on the central messages of the story (the nature of love and social hierarchy), one comes away wondering if what they have just witnessed is appropriate. Or whether, in fact, it is culturally offensive.
From a technical standpoint, the play has brilliant moments. Director Elizabeth LeCompte has assembled a production punctuated by a sound (Bruce Odland), live sound (Bobby McElver, Max Bernstein), lighting (Jennifer Tipton) and video projection (Andrew Schneider) spectacle. An avant-garde, multi-media extravaganza that even features a video screen playing a loop of smoke coming from the top of the teepee; and then there’s the vintage film clips on stage monitors which mimic the action on stage. If Burning Man had a Shakespeare festival, Cry, Trojans! would be exactly the sort of play they’d produce. But, like so many aspects of that genre, the accent is on spectacle, the attitude is smug and content is left wanting.
The question, then, once we wade through all the pomposity, is whether there’s a story and a message underneath it all. Apart fromt the bones of the narrative, Cry, Tojans! doesn’t deliver here, either. One almost feels—nay even hopes—a message is being delivered over our heads with the subtext, “We’re so much smarter than you, so too bad if you don’t get it.” But the first obligation of theater should be to convey the story, whatever that may be, to the audience. Which just doesn’t happen here. Whether it’s attempting to do too much and overshooting the mark, or merely wallowing in (somewhat insensitive) self-indulgence, Cry, Trojans! delivers a frustrating and disappointing evening of theater.
Cry, Tojans! Through April 19 at St. Ann’s Warehouse (29 Jay Street, Brooklyn). www.stannswarehouse.org