About This Show
Vanessa Redgrave stars in Hecuba, by Euripides, in a new version by Tony Harrison. Presented by the Royal Shakespeare Company, and directed by Laurence Boswell.
“Once I was a queen. Now I’m your slave. Once blessed with children. Now I’m old with none.” These gripping words, uttered to Agamemnon by a bereft Hecuba, occur at a crucial moment in Euripides’ tale of anguish and vengeance. In the aftermath of the Trojan War, the victorious Greek army is returning home. Hecuba, once Queen of Troy, now prisoner of war, is being brought back to Athens with another war treasure: the women of Troy. Robbed first of her throne, her dignity shredded by violence, Hecuba has endured the unthinkable murders of her children. Propelled by grief she vows retribution, and enlisting the help of her attendants, she attains it–blinding the man entrusted with her son’s life and slaying his children.
