Trojan Women

Ten years wrought with bloodshed and the agony of the Greek-Trojan conflict have ended. The surviving Greeks are ready to return to their homes, taking the Trojan people as their prizes and reducing the royalty to slaves. Despite the ashes of their city and compatriots scattering across the desolate plain of Ilium, the Trojan women stand together in their final moment of shared grief, rage, and strength.

Seneca’s Troades (Trojan Women) is a resistance piece composed around the middle of the first century CE during the reign of Emperor Nero by his tutor. A testament to womanist thought in antiquity, the play denounces sexual slavery and the sorting of women. It insists that we recognize how all humans, whether individually or collectively and often under social compulsion, perpetuate violence and cause others to suffer trauma. This production applies contemporary symbols and movement to Seneca’s protest in poetry.

Note: This show is performed in Latin with English supertitles.