Archive: Expat Theater Berlin

Performance language: English

Credits:
Adapted by T.J. Yacap
Director: Bailey Hubbs
Cast: Sofia Arvanitaki, Anna Banica, Kellani Marilyn, Vova Novak, Anna Paukša, T.J. Yacap
Assistant Director and Stage Manager: Miriam Gurguta;
Creative Producer: T.J. Yacap
Executive Producer: Anna Banica;
Dramaturgy: Sofia Arvanitaki, T.J. Yacap
Choreographer: Kellani Marilyn
Costume and Set Design: Bailey Hubbs
Light Design: Katarzyna Gulinska
Video & editing: Anna Banica, Bailey Hubbs
Animations: Chris Pinnock
Original score by Bailey Hubbs and Rusty Hubbs

Special thanks to Jacob Wolf Lefton, our Acting Coach

Poster photo by Miriam Gurguta

Running time: 90 mins, no break

Show description:
War is a devastating, inhumane, torturous experience - and we can only begin to understand its consequences by hearing and seeing the stories of those truly affected by it. Unfortunately, war continues to spread trauma and loss across the whole world, which is why Euripides’ tragedy is somehow still as relevant today, nearly 2500 years after its original production in ancient Athens.

The play starts at the end of Trojan War, where the widowed women of Troy huddle around Queen Hecuba, struggling to survive as they wait for the Greek herald, Talthybius, to unveil their faith. In this scenery, Hecuba has to maintain her authority, resilience and status around the women, while dealing with the loss of her children, her home, her throne and her heirs. Who is really to blame for the Trojan war: the Gods, the Greeks, or Helen’s “face that launched a thousand ships”? We invite spectators to draw their own conclusions, following this challenging and dramatic piece of theater.

Adapted for modern audiences by dramaturg T.J. Yacap and directed by Bailey Hubbs, Expat Theater’s ensemble will present a post-tragedy play that delves into the idea of grief through the lens of the divine feminine, while remaining faithful to the original text. The play examines how storytelling and satire bring much needed light and hope in a destitute landscape devastated by war. The action happens in an imagined bunker, where the war-stricken women take shelter, surrounded by all sorts of remains and objects they could gather to aid their survival. Our company hopes to breathe new life into this timeless production by showing war and degradation repetitive in nature, regardless of place and time and how society’s ideas of “womanhood”, “duty”, “motherhood” and “hope” can have many different layers in the face of tragedy.

About the artists:
Expat Theater is a collective of professional, international artists based in Berlin founded in 2023. Our cast and crew members immigrated to Germany within the past few years from countries such as Romania, Latvia, Greece, the United States of America, Sweden and Poland, in order to get an education and pursue a career in the arts. Our company came together out of our need to feel represented within Berlin’s multicultural scene and English-speaking audiences.

“Trojan Women” is only the first example of the type of work we are envisioning to create. Our mission is to represent Berlin’s international community and provide a growing performance space in English, for artists with immigration background, whose voices need to be heard.