Ransacking Troy hits the stage in Stratford

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