Reviewed
James Karas
Ransacking Troy is a new play by Erin Shields that premiered on August 21, 2025, at the Tom Patterson Theatre, as part of the Stratford Festival. It is a brilliant play that received an outstanding production with a superb cast directed by the master director, Jackie Maxwell. That is quite a collection of superlatives, and my rave review may find a few more. If you see the production, you may come up with a few of your own.
The play is about the mythical Trojan War but with a fundamental difference. It shows the uprising of the women of Greece, the wives, children and a few others who are fed up with the ten-year struggle and decide to put an end to it. Enough of heroes like Achilles, Odysseus and Agamemnon fighting for glory and booty (with comfort women in their tents) while their wives take care of everything in Greece.
Led by Penelope (Maev Beaty), the wife of Odysseus, the women decide to go to Troy and put an end to the destructive lunacy that has drawn on for ten years. We get urgency, disagreement and hilarity as they find a ship and row across the Aegean Sea to Troy. They recall the abduction of Helen of Sparta irreverently with a limerick that continues with her batting her eyes like a tarta and attracting Paris to slide her smooth thighs aparta.
They recall the sacrifice of Iphigenia, the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra for the sake of good winds to launch a thousand ships to Troy. Agamemnon the king of kings and Achilles, the greatest warrior fight over Chryseis, a war trophy. Agamemnon is forced to give her up and takes Achilles’s prize Briseis. Hence the anger of Achilles that dominates the Trojan War.
There is drama, humour and physical activity as the women get behind the oars and make their way to Troy. They need to prepare to impersonate men. They put on beards and imitate the mannerisms of men including scratching their crotches. Hilarious.
The play has thirty-three characters played by nine actors, all women, of course. You can do your own arithmetic about how many roles each actor plays, but don’t waste your time. You will have no difficulty following the plot. I will not name all the parts that each actor plays but will give you a couple of examples. Sarah Topham plays Aegiale (the wife of King Diomedes), the Cowering Woman, King Diomedes and the gorgeous Helen of Troy, a sight to behold as she comes down the aisle through the audience in a spectacular gown.
as Penelope in Ransacking Troy. Stratford Festival 2025.
Photo: David Hou.
Ijeoma Emesowum plays Psamathe, the hilarious goddess of sandy beaches as well as Briseis, Trojan Soldier, Antilochus, Circe and Cassandra.
The Greek women settle the war and head back to Greece but run into some problems. They encounter the Lotus Eaters, the goddess Circe who turns people into pigs, the Cyclops, the Sirens and Scylla and Charybdis. Yes, they are the same ones that Odysseus will encounter on his return.
The women make it back and they discuss what needs to be done. They want a radical transformation of society. Equality for women and a stop to their being slaves to the men who go to war for glory and loot. That message is not only for the women of Bronze Age Greece but for today’s people. The end is bitingly ironic as the women decide which way to proceed.
The performances by the nine actors are superb and I will name them all without enumerating all the roles that they play. Maev Beaty plays Penelope, the leader of the women, with commanding assurance and persuasive ability. She is outstanding. Irene Poole plays the powerful and bitter Clytemnestra whose husband sacrificed their daughter Iphigeneia for the war. She has anger and determination and a bitterly ironic finish.
Helen Belay plays Electra and the priest Chryses who begs for the release of his daughter Chryseis. We hear the encounter of the thirteen-year-old girl after Agamenon gets possession of her.
Sarah Dodd has six roles including Galax, the half-sister of the great warrior Ajax. She is a fighter like him.
Caitlyn MacInnes plays a decidedly working-class character, Cur, the daughter of a boat builder. Yanna McIntosh plays two powerful women, Euridice, the wife of Nestor and Hecuba, the wife of King Priam of Troy. A performance to behold.
Marissa Orjalo plays Hermione, the fifteen-year-old daughter of Helen who abandoned her for Paris when she (Hermione) was five years old.
They all perform superbly, and my few words of praise are not sufficient to express the high quality of their acting.
The set and costumes designed by Judith Bowden are perfect for the production. There are easily moveable benches that can be lined up for the women to become rowers. The simple costumes can belong to almost any age as does the theme of the play. The lighting by Michael Walton, the music by Deanna H. Choi and the sound design by Thomas Ryder Payne combine splendidly for the storms and fights.
The number of actors representing a large variety of characters in Greece, Troy and locations across the Aegean Sea in rowing like crazy calm waters and sea storms like passing through Scylla and Charybdis pose huge problems. Enter the magical solver, director Jackie Maxwell. Her dealing with all issues from the position of each character to the overall control of the humour and drama of the play is a masterpiece of directing.
Theatre at its best.
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