In preparation to my viewing of The Trojan Women at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival later on this season I decided to read Euripides’ play The Trojan Women. I must say that now I’ve read it I’m looking forward to the show even more than I did before. With the Stratford production staring Martha Henry in the lead role (Hecuba) how could I not be excited to watch it?
This drama by Euripides deals with the aftermath of the Trojan War, only the women are left to grieve the loss of all the men of the city. While having to experience the loss of the men they are forced to await their fate in the camp outside the city walls. Hecuba leads the women in this after war struggle as the former queen of the Troy. It’s interesting to see how the different women deal with their lost but perhaps the most heart wrenching part of the story is that of Andromache who’s son is the only male survivor of the war but is literally ripped from her hands to be killed. That story doesn’t end there because her son, Astyanax, is brought back to the women to dispose of the body (not to sound harsh).
I love theatre and truly enjoy reading plays but not as much as I enjoy watching a live production. I haven’t read anything by the Greek’s yet but I’m glad I read this one. Now I’m so thrilled to see the production at the Tom Patterson Theatre which runs in repertory until October 5. Once I’ve seen it you’ll be sure to see a review of the production here.
This is the second book I read for this challenge.
That's the Book! 