Classical Receptions in Drama and Poetry in English
from c.1970 to the Present  

Project Publications
(including Archived Conference papers)

A Democratic Turn

2009 Democratic Turn Eseminar

1998-2008 Archived topics

The Trojan War Will Not Take Place

A Review by Professor Lorna Hardwick

(For other reviews of The Trojan War Will Not Take Place please see database no. 2600)

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Production Notes:

'This production was inspired, and is in fact directly associated with, awareness of recent political and military developments in the Balkan area specifically. But more than this, it is based on the recognition that the world essentially remains at war ... We have tried to place Troy outside a time scale: our aim was to present characters so familiar in their humanity that their presence on stage would allude to all those who have followed in the footsteps of the first documented war in history.' (Source : Company publicity) Christopher Fry's translation was considerably abridged from the original for performance.

Set : The design was simple and focussed on situating the Trojan war and its implications outside the limitations of its own 'historical' context. In one corner a small TV screen showed news items and film of refugees from the Balkan conflicts of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The playing space was bounded on two sides by black curtains Next to the TV set two white curtains were pinned back. These represented the gates of war and when closed revealed a list of wars world-wide (also listed on the front of the programme).

Lighting : Mainly stark, reflecting off the white costumes of the cast. Opening sequence accompanied mime/movement of Cassandra with sharp on/off lighting which distracted from her movements and from the TV footage.

Costume: All cast barefoot. Female characters in white robes, Andromache with a white head band. Male characters also in white, Hector bare topped and blood-stained with tattoo on upper left arm. Priam was given whitened beard and hair but these were shown very much as 'stage make-up' and his voice was not that of an old man.

Performance reviewed 6th August, 2001:

The production values stated in the programme and company publicity were coherently expressed in the design and acting styles. The abridged performance text pointed up the cynical relationship between the material causes of war and the construction of its associated mythologies. Black humour was well timed (for instance in the dialogue between Cassandra and Hector as they viewed from the walls the guard of honour of Trojan elders) and appreciated by the audience (c. 10 at performance reviewed). The women's voices were presented as those of thought (Cassandra, Andromache, Hecuba) while Helen's naivete was exploited as a source of irony. The ironic deconstruction of international relationships and diplomacy bridged gaps of time and space and the overall effect was less that of a theatrical performance than of a verbal exploration (with the exception of the pessimistically violent ending in which apparently successful negotiations are destroyed by one violent act in which Demokos, Head of Senate and National Poet, is killed, precipitating the war. The young international cast varied in maturity and technical expertise, but Oliver Kniffki as Hector communicated a depth of feeling ad range of emotions which underpinned the dramatic irony with a sense of tragedy.

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