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Jean
Giraudoux could feel World War II pushing in the gates when he wrote
There Will Be No Trojan War in 1935. As a student and veteran
of war, and later as a diplomat, he had an all too clear understanding
of the direction in which his country and the world were heading. Negotiations
were failing, egos were flaring and Germany, humiliated and desperate
from its defeat in WWI and the Allies‚ demanded reparations, was
advancing. By indicting the uselessness of history's first recorded
war, Giraudoux condemned the War that he was facing. Rather than sit
idly by and watch the inevitable unfold, he chose to write a play that
screamed out a revolutionary plea for peace.
Giraudoux, like many before him and many to follow, used the legends
of Greek and Trojan epics as inspiration for plays of contemporary relevance.
The story of There Will Be No Trojan War begins with the victorious
return of Hector, the leading Trojan General and oldest son of Troy's
King Priam. While driving his sword into the chest of an enemy, Hector
has a vision that makes him realize that waging war is a disguised form
of suicide that will eventually destroy him. Fresh with this epiphany,
he declares that he will close the Gates of War and never open them
again. Sure that the city of Troy, at its height of economic, scientific
and cultural glory, will welcome this news, he is shocked when he finds
that the real enemy to peace lurks within his own home. This play, disturbingly
relevant to our own country's present crisis, reveals that we most truly
display our courage when we find a way not to fight. Giraudoux called
his play a farce, because of the pathetic and darkly hysterical way
that his characters stumble drunkenly into their own destruction. This
play is most of all a tragedy of the nonsense inherent in humanity's
deadliest and most natural instinct – War.
Like a few other Americans, we believe that our nation has embarked
on a path that we all know will only lead to more destruction if we
follow it. We believe that Giraudoux wrote this play when he did for
the same reasons that we have chosen to adjust our Season and present
it now. For Giraudoux, failure was not defined by losing to your opponent,
but by giving up on yourself. There Will Be No Trojan War is
a challenge a dare for all of us, toplay chicken with Destiny and find
another way to resolve the crisis that grips us now.
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PRODUCTION
INFORMATION
Directed
by Patrick Dooley
Dramaturgy by Barry Horwitz & Joan McBrien
Costume Design by Valera Coble
Scenic Design by Sylvia Dawkins & Michael Frassinelli
Lighting Design by Alex Lopez
PREVIEWS
Thursday, December 6 & Friday, December 7 at 8 pm at Eighth Street
Studio Theatre
OPENS
Saturday, December 8 at 8 pm at Eighth Street Studio Theatre
CONTINUES
Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 pm at Eighth Street Studio Theatre
CLOSES
Saturday, January 12 at 8 pm at Eighth Street Studio Theatre
PERFORMED
AT
EIGHTH STREET STUDIO
2525 Eigth Street
Between Dwight & Parker in West Berkeley.
Click here
for a map.
ADMISSION
Preview $10
Thursdays $10
Opening $20
General $18
Students, Seniors & TBA $12
For reservations,
and further information, call 510.704.8210 or email us at reservations@shotgunplayers.org
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