'The Women of Troy': Barrie Kosky, The Sydney Theatre Company, and Classical Theatre in Australia

Abstract

Euripides' 'Trojan Women' was first performed in 415 at the Athens Dionysia. It deals with the plight of several Trojan women following the fall of Troy: the queen, Hecuba, her daughter, Cassandra, Andromache, the wife of Hector, and Helen. It is the third and in recent times the best known of three important works engaging with the Trojan War. In the 21st century, the play has been performed most notably in 2007 and 2008 at the National Theatre in London: 'The Women of Troy' directed by Katie Mitchell; in Canada in 2008 at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario: 'The Trojan Women' directed by Marti Maraden; and in Australia, in Sydney and Melbourne in 2008: 'The Women of Troy' directed by Barrie Kosky. It is with this last production that this suite of essays engages. 'The Women of Troy' was adapted by Tom Wright and Barrie Kosky, and directed by Kosky. It was performed in Sydney, at the Sydney Theatre Company (STC), and in Melbourne, at the Malthouse Theatre.