The Stratford Festival presents the world première of Ransacking Troy

STRATFORD, ON – The Stratford Festival proudly unveils the world première of Ransacking Troy, a powerful and provocative new work by award-winning playwright Erin Shields. In this bold reimagining of Homer’s epic poems The Illiad and The Odyssey, Shields flips the lens on the Trojan War, offering an alternate ending told not through the eyes of warriors but through the voices of the women at its heart.

We all know the story: a Trojan prince abducts a Greek queen, sparking a decade-long war that ends with the fiery fall of Troy. But what if it didn’t have to end that way?

In Ransacking Troy, Penelope, long weary of waiting for Odysseus to return home from battle, takes matters into her own hands. She rallies a band of courageous Greek women and sets sail for Troy – her goal, to bring home her husband and forge a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

Exploring timeless themes of war, power and resilience, Ransacking Troy recasts a familiar myth through a fresh, urgent perspective. As the women navigate a world reshaped by absence, they ask: what comes after war, and who gets to decide?

Helmed by acclaimed director Jackie Maxwell, this fierce, funny and deeply resonant production promises to be a theatrical experience unlike any other – epic in scope, intimate in emotion and powerfully relevant to our times.

Ransacking Troy features Maev Beaty as Penelope/Odysseus and Irene Poole as Clytemnestra/ Agamemnon/Iphigenia, with Yanna McIntosh as Eurydice/Hecuba/Nestor and Sara Topham as Aegiale/Helen/Cowering Woman/Diomedes. The production also features Helen Belay as Electra/Chryses/Thrasymedes, Sarah Dodd as Galax/Anax/Andromache/Hector/Old Woman/Greater Ajax, Ijeoma Emesowum as Psamathe/ Briseis/Trojan Soldier/Antilochus/ Circe/Cassandra, Katarina Fiallos, Caitlyn MacInnis as Cur/Hecamede/Lesser Ajax/Trojan Soldier, Marissa Orjalo as Hermione/Menelaus and Krystin Pellerin.

Maxwell is joined by Choreographer Esie Mensah, Set and Costume Designer Judith Bowden, Lighting Designer Michael Walton, Composer Deanna H. Choi and Sound Designer Thomas Ryder Payne.

Ransacking Troy has its official opening on August 21 and runs until September 28 at the Tom Patterson Theatre. Tickets are available at stratfordfestival.ca or by calling 1.800.567.1600.

The 2025 season also features As You Like It, Annie, Sense and Sensibility, Dangerous Liaisons, Macbeth, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Anne of Green Gables, The Winter’s Tale, Forgiveness and The Art of War. For more information, visit stratfordfestival.ca.

The 2025 season is generously supported by Ophelia Lazaridis.

Proud 2025 Season Partners: BMO Financial Group, Canada Life and RBC Royal Bank.

Support for the 2025 season of the Tom Patterson Theatre is generously provided by BMO Financial Group.

Production Co-Sponsors: VFG Wealth, Marilyn Gropp, Jane Fryman Laird, Dr. Robert J. & Roberta Sokol and an anonymous donor.

CAST (in alphabetical order)

Maev Beaty  ____________Penelope/Odysseus

Helen Belay  ____________Electra/Chryses/Thrasymedes

Sarah Dodd  ____________Galax/Anax/Andromache/Hector/Old Woman/Greater Ajax

Ijeoma Emesowum _____Psamathe/Briseis/Trojan Soldier/Anthilochus/Circe/Cassandra

Katarina Fiallos _________Understudy

Caitlyn MacInnis _______Cur/Hercamede/Lesser Ajax/Trojan Soldier

Yanna McIntosh ________Eurydice/Hecuba/Nestor

Marissa Orjalo __________Hermione/Menelaus

Krystin Pellerin _________Understudy

Irene Poole  _____________Clytemnestra/ Agamemnon/Iphigenia

Sara Topham  ____________Aegiale/Helen/Cowering Woman/Diomedes

ARTISTIC CREDITS

Playwright   ______________________Erin Shields

Director   ________________________Jackie Maxwell

Choreographer   _________________Esie Mensah

Set and Costume Designer  _____Judith Bowden

Lighting Designer  _______________Michael Walton

Composer  ______________________ Deanna H. Choi

Sound Designer ________________ Thomas Ryder Payne

Fight and Intimacy Director  ____Anita Nittoly

Assistant Director  ________________________Bryn Kennedy

Assistant Set and Costume Designer _____Paige Prystupa

Assistant Lighting Designer  ______________Mathilda Kane

Dramaturge   ______________________________Bob White

Stage Manager, Production Stage Manager _____Meghan Callan

Assistant Stage Manager  _______________________Alice Ferreyra Galliani

Assistant Stage Manager  _______________________Erin Fitzgerald

Assistant Stage Manager  _______________________Caitlin Mears

Production Stage Manager  _____________________Bruno Gonsalves

Production Assistant  ___________________________Brady Hillman

Technical Director  ______________________________Greg Dougherty

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