Euripides’ THE TROJAN WOMEN
Seth as Astyanax in Samford University Theatre’s Trojan Women
Originally written for May 18 in Theatre Is My Life!
“Place the shield upon the ground, Hector's shield so deftly rounded, a piteous sight, a bitter grief for me to see. O, you Achaeans, more reason have you to boast of your prowess than your wisdom. Why have you in terror of this child been guilty of a murder never matched before? Did you fear that some day he would rear again the fallen walls of Troy? It seems then you were nothing after all, when, though Hector's fortunes in the war were prosperous and he had ten thousand other arms to back him, we still were daily overmatched; and yet, now that our city is taken and every Phrygian slain, you fear a tender child like this! I do not commend the fear of one who fears but never yet has reasoned out the cause.”
Hecuba in Euripides’ The Trojan Women
Whew! Another play about war! In the spring of 1990, we were brave enough to perform this great Euripides tragedy about the women of Troy after the Greeks have entered their walls in the now-famous huge wooden horse. Their city has been destroyed and all the Trojan men have been slaughtered. With their husbands killed, the women and their remaining families are about to be shipped away as slaves.
The widowed princess Andromache hears of her daughter’s sacrifice at the tomb of the Greek warrior Achilles, and then learns that her baby son will be thrown off the battlements so that he won’t grow up to avenge his father Hector’s death. She asks that at least her son’s body be brought back so the family can give him a proper burial. My son Seth was five years old at the time of our production, and was cast as the child Astyanax.
Seth was an active youngster. He was very excited to play this part in the play, to have one of his favorite students Pistl (as he called Kristl) make him up to first look like an adorable little Trojan, and then a bloody mess, to wear a tiny chiton (Greek robe), to stay up late at rehearsals, and to feel like an important part of the project.
Vic Fichtner, one of our alumni, directed The Trojan Women, and I totally respected his talent in this position. However, I had a tiny disagreement with the way he staged the scene toward the end of the play in which heralds return to the city bearing the body of Astyanax on Hector’s shield. The scene was staged so that the shield was set down center in a spotlight with the grandmother Hecuba behind, and the chorus back of her delivering their ode.
Did I mention that the scene was nine minutes long? With a five-year old boy on top of a shield for that long, I might have staged the chorus around the body in a circle, but Vic was insistent that Astyanax should stay in full view of the audience the entire time. We practiced at home remaining immobile, we talked about how important the scene was, we taught deep breathing and relaxation exercises, and then we actually bribed Seth to be still for nine minutes. If he could do so for the final dress rehearsal and all six performances, we would all go to Disney World as a reward.
“How,” I wondered during rehearsals, “did I ever agree to this? It is nerve wracking to the mother! Not only do I watch my tyke brought onstage as a lifeless corpse, but I have to worry about whether or not he decides to spring back to life in a Jesus-like resurrection.” At every performance, I sat in the audience and held my breath. But before the show opened, I realized this scene was not about me, but about Seth as the tiny Astyanax, and if Vic was untroubled about it, I should let my anxiety go.
We did make a trip to Disney World. Funny thing, though: I was at a funeral recently at Samford and a colleague sat behind me. When the service was over, he asked how Seth was doing these days. “I’ll never forget Seth in The Trojan Women,” he said. “That little death twitch was so realistic!” So, my son wasn’t flawlessly and absolutely corpse-like every performance, but I’ll give him this: he was just about as perfect as a five-year old set down stage center for nine minutes could possibly be.