'Trojen Women' by McLaughlin at Aurora, April 4-May 11

Berkeley's acclaimed Aurora Theatre Company proudly presents the Professional World Premiere of The Trojan Women by lauded actress and playwright Ellen McLaughlin (best known for the role of "Angel" in Angels in America, and her plays Iphigenia and Other Daughters, Narrow Bed, and Tongue of a Bird).

Aurora Theatre Company founding Artistic Director Barbara Oliver, who directed the company's critically heralded 2004 production of McLaughlin's The Persians, helms this re-imagined Greek drama that makes the struggles of ancient Greece as immediate as the headlines of today.

"Inspired by Euripides' classic anti-war tragedy, The Trojan Women, first produced during the Greek Peloponnesian War, examines the aftermath of the Trojan War through the eyes of its surviving women. Queen Hecuba, the slave-concubine Andromache, and Helen, the woman whose beauty started it all, meet in the ruins of Troy after their city has been sacked, their husbands killed, and their families taken away as slaves. Vividly recounting the final days of the Trojan civilization, The Trojan Women is an impassioned cry against violence that insists upon the victory of spirit amid the horrors created by gods and men," describe press notes.

Nora el Samahy, Gwen Loeb, Julian Lopez-Morillas, Charisse Loriaux, Sarah Nealis, Matthew Purdon, Emilie Talbot, and Carla Spindt star in The Trojan Women, playing April 4 through May 11 at the Aurora Theatre in Berkeley.

For tickets and information ($28-50) the public can call (510) 843-4822 or visit auroratheatre.org. The chorus of The Trojan Women features an artistic collaboration with four young actors from the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.

Previews are April 4, 5 & 9 at 8PM; April 6 at 2PM; officially opening April 10 with performances through May 11.

Show times are Wednesday through Saturday at 8PM; Sunday at 2PM & 7PM.

The Aurora Theatre is located at 2081 Addison Street, Berkeley, CA 94704

For tickets (previews $28, regular performances $40-42, limited opening night seating $50), and information, the public can call (510) 843-4822 or visit www.auroratheatre.org.

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