based upon Euripides The Trojan Women

translated by Michael Cacoyannis

Direction-music: Louisa Kostoula (Violet Louise)

Hecuba: Aglaia Pappa

The Michael Cacoyannis Foundation presents a unique performance an audiovisual experience with three performers who will transfer to the audience the tragic farewell of the women of Troy to their homeland and their dead when, beaten by the war, they follow their destiny down the road of slavery to the land of the victorious Greeks.

The performance Trojan Women, Petrified (Marmaromenes Troades), a symbolic title which bears the timeless weight of the atrocities of war, is based upon Euripides Trojan Women, in the translation by Michael Cacoyannis, to be staged on Sunday 22 May 2016, at 20:30 and Monday 23 May 2016 at 21:00, at the MCF Theatre.

The performance was first presented, and thrilled its audiences, at the Ancient Olympia Museum (20/04/2016), within the framework of events for the Olympic Torch Lighting Ceremony, and, following its stop in Athens, will travel to regional cities and abroad.

Louisa Kostoula talks about the play: When logic is abandoned, fear prevails Euripides writes in his tragedy The Trojan Women. The concept of just and unjust warfare is as old as the existence of war itself. The history of political thought believes peace to simply be an interlude between two wars. The Trojan Women was written in 415 BC during the Peloponnesian War. Only a few months earlier the Athenians had attacked Milos, literally leveling the island, killing all the men and selling the women and children off as slaves. Following this they were preparing an attack on Sicily. Euripides, striking out at this expansionary policy of the Athenians, stood against any form of aggressive warfare.

The performance is a contemporary form of narration. Michael Cacoyannis translation, with its directness and its musicality, was a firm base for this venture. Speech, music, image, sound, the actors, all combine to create an experiential environment for the audience.

The composition and implementation are based upon a special sound design (use of quadraphonics, a zone of four speakers which are placed amongst the audience), and three actors. The visual material used includes specially processed shots of natural landscapes, images which float between the realistic and the imaginary which heighten the feelings of loss of space and time, the memories of the women who were driven down the road of slavery.

Direction, music, audio-engineering: Louisa Kostoula (Violet Louise)

Visual synthesis: Vasilis Kountouris (Studio 19)

Sound design: Costas Bokos (Studio 19)

Creative team for visual material: Nikos Levantis, Louisa Kostoula, Vasilis Kountouris

Costumes: Lilian Xidia

Assistant Director: Elina Mantidi

Performing: Aglaia Pappa, Panayotis Garbis, Louisa Kostoula