The Trojan Women

Jaya Robertson, L6S

In January 2023, the Sixth Form drama classes collaborated with Ms Middleton to put together and perform an adaptation of Euripides’ Trojan Women We aimed to modernise the play and slightly recontextualise it in a way that very much maintained the essence of the original piece whilst adding our own touches and universalising the element of women’s suffering.

This was my first experience being involved in a site-specific production, meaning that, as opposed to performing on a stage, we took a space which had been built with no intention of being used for theatre and took full advantage of it. This created a theatrical experience which most of the audience would never have had. After a few complications and trips to different sites, we chose Hatch Café in Homerton, a cosy, uniquely decorated location with some lovely owners and the means to create a brilliant show.

It was amazing to be part of the process as we really developed our knowledge of how a piece of drama is put together, the logistics of lighting and tech design, and were able to immerse ourselves in the lives of some quite complex characters. These are skills which are absolutely invaluable for our Drama A Level and so we are incredibly grateful for the opportunity.

We had prepared an immersive opening in which the audience was able to walk around the space and watch as the relationships and dynamics between characters began to unravel at a Christmas party – a concept which was developed in light of our original December date.

However, after spending the previous day at the site rehearsing scenes, setting up and with nerves kicking in, we ended up being completely snowed in for the planned Monday performance! We then had to reschedule to late January, which was slightly disheartening after the rush of excitement. Despite this, we reconvened on the morning of the postponed show and got to work. It was a very intense day of rerunning our lines and movement as well as setting up the set and lighting again.

I think it would be fair to say that most of the cast were used to taking part in school musicals for which we thoroughly prepare and work towards for months, so, the slightly frenzied nature of this production, due to both the snow and the fact that we were running it alongside rehearsals for the upcoming senior musical, was a stressful, yet fulfilling, endeavour.

Interestingly, doing the show with such little rehearsal time also gave us the chance to take some initiative with our acting and really broaden our understanding of our characters on our own. I think this led to a much more creative, mature result that showed in everyone’s performances. This was hugely satisfying given the amount of self-led work and focus that was required.

I played the elderly, grief-stricken Hecuba, the fallen Queen of Troy. Our story followed her mounting loss, the destruction of her city and the pitiful lots of the Trojan women. The Greek herald Talthybius arrives bearing news of their morbid future and the fates of Hecuba and her children. It transpires that they are all to be taken off as slaves and Astyanax, son of

Hecuba’s daughter Andromache, has been condemned to die. We explored themes of love, family and strength. This created a very poignant yet powerful atmosphere as the Trojan women lifted their heads and walked towards their burning city. Our aim in modernising this text was to reflect on the global suffering of so many women whose lives are still greatly affected by conflict.

Overall, the project was a success and one of which I have very fond memories. For the benefit of future A Level students, I hope this can become a tradition in the years to come.