A UNIQUE EVENT MUCH MORE THAN THEATRE

"THE TROJAN WOMEN" is far more than a story of some mythic past. Rather it is very much of the present.

Euripides wrote "The Trojan Women" for its first performance in 415 BC. It has had at least fifteen major productions (including film versions) of it over the last hundred or so years; plus countless student productions. The DTC production in Canberra is a theatre cinema hybrid involving cinematic and live performances. In many respects, it is a Wake. Not the most fun of events ... though strangely an ironic celebration of lives lost; revering the ghosts of often heroic figures who were dehumanised, raped, murdered and forgotten. And it is a necessary event. We invite you to participate in our evoking of the ageless spirits of the Trojan Women.

If you have attended a good Wake after the death of a relative or friend, you will know how the sadness and uncontrollable feeling of loss is somehow transformed into a new recognition of loved ones, friends and new relationships. The transformation of extreme emotions through sometimes wailing or crying or howling or simply drinking oneself into a stupa at the bar paid for by the close relatives of the deceased; those conversations about the one who passed and the choices of music that permeate through the space ... are they all somewhat surreal and yet transformative! The arguments that are inevitable and the illicit emotions that stimulate forbidden relationships somehow transform and lead to those emotional infections that may have lasting consequences. Sometimes for better or worse!

But the Wake is a real event unlike a Rave party or an after-party following a show: such parties might celebrate death but without the real sacrifice that has occurred to initiate the Wake. So with this in mind, we see the development of Euripides' most significant play in light of contemporary sacrifice, death and celebration giving way to renewal: a WAKE!

Euripides wrote works that irritated and defied the society that spawned him and his creations. Yet buried within the semantics of the texts can be found both the seeds and remains of understanding and actions that can be discovered in anthropological excavations.

We hope to stimulate discussion and activism within our audience and see real connection with our world today.

Joe Woodward

Contact the host of The Trojan Women