In 2015, the Royal Shakespeare Company debuted Marina Carr’s Hecuba in the Swan Theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon. Now, in the hands of Rough Magic Theatre Company, the play finally sees its Irish premiere in the Project Arts Center.
Many people are familiar with Homer’s story of the aftermath of the ancient Trojan war. But Carr turns it on its head by not looking at the victors, nor the defeated, but at the collateral damage, the women and children who were made the spoils of the war. A loose but raw adaptation of Euripides’s ancient play by the same name, Hecuba focuses on the women’s stories. Told partially by the queen of Troy herself, the play will ask its audience questions about power and responsibility, as well as addressing the forever-relevant emotional cost of warfare. While Euripides demonised Hecuba as a murderous shrew, Rough Magic and Carr promise to paint her in three dimensions.
Rough Magic describes itself as “Ireland’s leading independent theatre company”, and has been in business since 1984. In this time, the theatre company has delivered over 50 Irish world premieres. Returning again to the festival, the company works for the first time with one of Marina Carr’s acclaimed texts. Carr’s previous work includes The Mai, which won the Dublin Theatre Festival Best New Irish Play award in 1995, and On Raftery’s Hill, which was revived in the Abbey Theatre in 2017.
In a world where we are constantly saturated with horrific news – war, guns, more war – theatre that depicts the human cost of political violence is incredibly relevant. Despite Hecuba’s ancient source material, the play promises to be timely meditation on what it means to be the victor, and what it’s like to be the spoils.
Hecuba runs as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival from September 27th to October 6th at the Project Arts Center. Ticket prices range from €25–€35, with discounts for students, seniors and the unwaged.
