Premiere: 23 March 2024.
In the 20th century, in the shadow of global conflict, special attention was given to Euripides’ so-called “anti-war” dramas—Hecuba and The Trojan Women—in which the playwright depicted the senseless human suffering caused by war from the perspective of the defeated, particularly women. Drawing on the adaptations by Sartre and Gyula Illyés, in the midst of the 21st century’s new wartime challenges, director István K. Szabó now presents the events following the fall of Troy from the unique perspective of four women. His adaptation contrasts emotional and rational approaches to reveal the tragedy that should have never taken place, yet proved inevitable as the gods, in their selfish game, threw the dice and one way or another, Troy was destined to fall. In the performance refleting on the present situation, time becomes fluid and is eventually completely dissolved. The production evokes haunting voices and images from history’s great melting pot, alluding to the ever-present fire and array of smoldering ruins, as the vanity of Helen spurs new, destructive campaigns that delight in devastation, with no man capable of resisting her allure. Meanwhile, in the silence of death, “only the Trojan women raise their voices.”
Director: István K. Szabó
