Even if Loyola students and staff don’t have mythical powers like the Greek gods, through the art of theatre will portray the issues women have dealt with in the past as well as contemporary society through the play, “Trojan Women.”   

The director of “Trojan Women,” Arben Kumbaro, discussed the issues women face in today’s society in the Balkan and American culture at a lunch series: “Parallels between Balkan and American Women,” in the Women’s Resource Center on March 2.

The play is a production of Euripides’ classic. Playwright Ellen McLaughlin’s modern adaptation focuses on a group of enslaved women who struggle to understand the horrors and mistreatment that the gods and that men have done to them.

Kumbaro stressed the importance of women in the society – many husbands feared their wives because it was believed they had mythical powers and could kill them.

Kumbaro felt that the heroines of the “Trojan Women” were not represented in their society. He believes there is a parallel between women today who are discriminated against and  whose voices aren’t hear.

“I wanted to speak on the enemy’s rights, the women, in ‘Trojan Women,'” Kumbaro said.  

Kumbaro said that women were abused and tortured in the Balkan states, and that he heard more than 80 Balkan women’s stories in a six month time period. Kumbaro also told listeners at the lunch series that women never started the wars in all the war history.

 It was, he said  “always men. Women are the most wonderful creation, bringing life to the world.”

“‘Trojan Women’ is a way for people to see how women were treated during a time and are treated today,” he said.

The play will run March 20 through March 21 in Marquette Theater. Tickets are $12 general admission and $8 for all students.

Jess Burrola can be reached at [email protected].