PREVIEW: The Cure at Troy (Excerpts from “Off Book”)
The cast of Seamus Heaney’s The Cure at Troy at Seattle RepTheatre April 3 through May 3, 2008. Photo: Chris Bennion.
The gods and goddesses were having a party and everyone was invited. Well, almost everyone. Eris, goddess of Discord, could be a real drag at any gathering, so she was left off the guest list. Oops…
Ten years into the Trojan War—can you say quagmire?—the Greeks really wanted to go home. A Trojan soothsayer was captured. He revealed that Troy could not fall without the bow of Hercules. Unfortunately, Odysseus had abandoned the bow, along with its wounded owner, on a deserted island. Thus begins the story of The Cure at Troy, based on the ancient Greek play Philoctetes by Sophocles.
“Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?”
The Trojan War comes to life with “Humans, Heroes and Gods” as Seattle Repertory Theatre presents The Cure at Troy.
The fate of a raging war rests on one treacherous plan. Odysseus discovers the only way to guarantee a victory over the Trojans is by using the bow and arrow of the god Hercules. But the weapon just happens to be in the hands of Philoctetes, a wounded soldier Odysseus abandoned on a wretched, muddy island ten years earlier. Nobel Prize-winning poet Seamus Heaney, masterful director Tina Landau, and a young, vibrant cast take on the Trojan War in a way you’ve never imagined: up close, stunningly raw, and thoroughly human.
10 Reasons to be Psyched for this production:
1) The set: a 16 foot volcano made of real mud and rocks.
2) Sexy, sexy men including Seth Numrich, the youngest actor ever to be accepted at Julliard’s acting program.
3) Audience participation: pre-show “Greek Warm-ups” every Wednesday-Thursday at 7 pm in the lobby.
4) Music inspired by Björk and the crazy, haunting Bulgarian Women’s Choir.
5) Boris McGiver, playing Philoctetes, who you might have seen on “The Wire,” or the movie “The Pink Panther”.
6) Director Tina Landau, who said “All I really care about is making theatre that feels really live…I’m not going to be careful with it.”
7) Actors crawling in the mud, sweating, howling and singing.
8) Clothing that is both Ancient Greek and semi-futuristic (and one guy in just a loin cloth).
9) A ten-piece African drum group already commissioned to lay down insane beats that composer Josh Schmidt said will be “a full-frontal rhythmic assault.”
10) Greece is cool: Togas, John Stamos, gyros. Yum!
The Cure at Troy plays in the Bagley Wright Theatre from April 3 through May 3. Previews begin April 3, with opening night set for April 9. Tickets are available through the Seattle Repertory Theatre box office or online at www.seattlerep.org.
