CA's West Coast Ensemble is presenting Jules Tasca's contemporary adaptation of The Trojan Women. Titled The Balkan Women, the piece injects into the classic tragedy current tragedies going on in Kosovo. Performances began July 6 for an opening July 9 and a run through Aug. 29.

Rather than the women of Troy ravished by the death of their husbands, Balkan Women depicts the horrors of war at a Serbian detention camp for Muslim women in the year 1992.

West Coast Ensemble Artistic Director, Les Hanson will direct the production, running in repertory with a new musical, Vanishing Point with book and lyrics by Robert Hartmann and Scott Keys & music by Robert Hartmann.

Agatha Christie, Aimee Semple McPherson and Amelia Earhart, having all mysteriously disappeared, find each other together on a fanciful tropical island and sing about the pressure of relentless fame. Vanishing Point also began previews July 6 but opens July 16 for a run through Aug. 29.

For tickets or more information on either show at West Coast Ensemble, 522 North La Brea, call (323) 525-0022 or check their website at http://www.wcensemble.org -- By Sean McGrath