Let’s Hear it For the Girls: PPCC’s The Trojan Women Auditions

By Camille Liptak, Arts Editor

On Feb. 19th and 20th PPCC Theater Director, Sarah Sheppard Shaver, held auditions for the upcoming Spring 2018 production of The Trojan Women.

Out of the 33 who auditioned, 25 of them were women.

Fresh and familiar faces of the Colorado Springs theater community auditioned for Shaver, including PPCC student Megan Edwards.

“I have known and worked with the director before, and loved the experience. I also love classic plays,” Edwards said.

Shaver said she has been a long-time fan of the play for many reasons.

For one, it has a lot of interesting female protagonists.

In most contemporary plays, the amount of available female roles is limited to 2 or 3. The Trojan Women has 5 major female roles, with 15 additional spots for the all-female chorus.

“Having a female driven play empowers women in a time that it is needed,” Edwards said.

And it is a period piece.

Written by Euripides, The Trojan Women was based on myths surrounding the Trojan War.

The 2000-year-old play has many keen messages about the repercussions of war, a narrative Shaver says continues to infiltrate our culture.

Diversity also played a major part in the decision to produce The Trojan Women.

“There is room at the table and I want everyone to feel welcome and heard,” Shaver said.

The 2-day auditions were open to current and former PPCC staff and students, all ethnicities, ages, and gender identities.

PPCC’s production of The Trojan Women is set to run April 12th-14th, and April 19th-21^st 2018.