presents

The Gods. The Heroes. The Clowns.

Trojan Productions presents A Night at the Trojan Wall, at the Present Company Theatorium, for a limited run opening November 29.

Homer's Iliad told by clowns. Comedy and tragedy collide in A Night at the Trojan Wall to reveal the great absurdity of the warrior, and the terror, the sorrow, the courage, the camaraderie.

In a style inspired by the physical theater of Jacques Lecoq and Phillippe Gaulier, a cast of nine combines rough-edged, physical comedy with the elevated text of Homer to portray both the light and dark side of the human spirit. In this production, conceived and directed by Jane Nichols, the language and virtuosity of Homer and his warriors are given fresh interpretation and new life after 5000 years.

In A Night at the Trojan Wall, the Greeks have been fighting the Trojans for nine years. Now, Achilles, the greatest warrior in the Greek army, is enraged when Agamemnon, commander of the Greek army, seizes his fairly won prize -- a girl, Briseis. So enraged is Achilles, that he lays down his arms and refuses to fight. The tide of the battle turns, and the Greeks start losing -- badly. The consequences are dire. The story unforgettable.

Nichols, an actress and teacher who has recently moved to New York, began workshopping the project while on the faculty of the graduate Institute at American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, MA. Trojan Wall is graced with designs by Stevie Swenson of Manhattan Theatre Club, music by Michael Mills (Benten Kozo), and Fight sequences by Broadway's J. Steven White.

The talented international cast, which includes three current Fulbright Scholars, inhabits and enlivens the raw industrial space of the Theatorium as it transforms it into the battlefields of Troy.

A Night at the Trojan Wall runs November 29 - December 15, Monday - Wednesday at 8:00pm. Sunday matinees December 5 & 12 at 3:00pm. Tickets are $12. The Present Company Theatorium is located at 198 Stanton Street (between Ridge & Attorney Streets on the Lower East Side; subway; F to Delancey). For information and reservations call (212) 539-7661