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UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
EURIPIDES' TROJAN WOMEN:
A 201" CENTURY WAR PLAY IN PERFORMANCE
D.PHIL THESIS
AVERY T. WILLIS
BALLIOL COLLEGE
SUPERVISOR: PROF. OLIVER TAPLIN, MAGDALEN COLLEGE
TRINITY TERM, 2005
ABSTRACT
Euripides' Trojan Women: A 20th Century War Play in Performance
Avery T. Willis, Balliol College
Faculty of Classics, Sub-Faculty of Classical Languages and Literature
Submitted for Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Trinity Term 2005
Supervisor: Professor Oliver Taplin, Magdalen College
In this dissertation, I approach the interpretation of a classical text in performance
by examining the practical elements (directorial and design choices: set, costumes,
lighting, music, etc.) and promotional materials (programmes, press releases,
photographs, etc.) for a selection of significant test cases in order to determine how these
production decisions engage with external factors of political, intellectual, and cultural
import. Trojan Women is a particularly useful case study to explore within the parameters
of this method because the dynamism and immediacy of the play is most powerfully
articulated when production choices allow for it to be wielded as a weapon of protest or
reaction against contemporary policy, especially the waging of war. Using a
chronological approach, this analysis of Trojan Women as a text for performance
provides a broad and in-depth discussion of the reception of the play in the twentieth
century, the period in which the ancient text was most frequently performed. Through the
investigation of several influential productions on the international stage, and through an
examination of the roles of key players (particularly Gilbert Murray and Jean-Paul
Sartre), Trojan Women emerges as a play that offers theatre artists a unique and effective
forum for debating issues of human responsibility in times of war a central theme in the
play and a considerable preoccupation during a century of armed conflict. Chapter One
discusses how the play was used to criticize imperial activity and promote ideological
causes in the first half of the century. Chapters Two and Three draw attention to a major
cluster of performances reflecting the spirit of international war protest in the 1960s and
1970s. Chapter Four addresses productions of the play affected by delayed responses to
the Holocaust. Chapter Five features performances in the 1990s that respond to crises of
civil conflict and genocide.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
Acknowledgements i
Introduction 1
One
The 'Living Art9 of Theatre and the Two World Wars 20
1. Harley Granville-Barker/Gilbert Murray, Trojan Women 31
(London, Royal Court Theatre, 1905)
2. Harley Granville-Barker/Gilbert Murray, Trojan Women 37
(American Tour, 1915)
3. Maurice Browne/Gilbert Murray, Trojan Women 49
(Chicago Little Theatre/American Tour, 1913-1915)
4. Lewis Casson/Gilbert Murray, Trojan Women 63
(London, various theatres, 1919)
5. Victor Barnowski/Franz Werfel, Die Troerinnen 74
(Berlin, various theatres/European Tour, 1916)
6. Mary Hunter/Edith Hamilton, Trojan Women 87
(New York, Master's Institute Theatre, 1938)
7. Hallie Flanagan/Phillip H. Davis, Trojan Incident 90
(New York, St James Theatre, Federal Theatre Project, 1938)
8. Margaret Webster/Gilbert Murray, Trojan Women 93
(New York, Cort Theater, 1941)
Two
A Weapon of Protest and Reaction: 95
Productions by Michael Cacoyanms on stage and screen
9. Michael Cacoyannis/Edith Hamilton, Trojan Women 97
(New York, Circle-in-the-Square Theatre, 1963)
10. Michael Cacoyannis/Jean-Paul Sartre, Les Troyennes 111
(Paris, Theatre National Populaire, 1965)
11. Michael Cacoyannis/Edith Hamilton, Trojan Women 122
(Major Motion Picture, 1971)
Three
Towards a More Sacred Text? 140
Avant-garde productions by Andrei Serban and Tadashi Suzuki
12. Andrei Serban, Fragments of a Trilogy 142
(New York/international tour, La MaMa ETC, 1974)
13. Tadashi Suzuki, Trojan Women 161
(Tokyo/international tour, Iwanami Hall, 1974)
Four
Agency and Actualitdt: 179
Responses to the Holocaust in 1980s Israel and Germany
14. George Tabori/Mattias Braun, Die Troerinnen 185
(Bremen Theater am Goetheplatz, 1976)
15. George Tabori/Walter Jens, Der Untergang: Nach den Troerinnen des Euripides 203
(Munich, Miinchen Kammerspiele, 1985)
16. Christoph Schroth/Hans Mayer (Jean-Paul Sartre), Antike Entdeckungen 5 215
(Schwerin, Mecklenburg Staatstheater, 1982)
17. Hoik Freytag/Eli Malka, Trojan Women 221
(Tel Aviv, Habima National Theatre, 1983)
18. Hanoch Levin/Hanoch Levin, The Hopeless Women of Troy 244
(Tel Aviv, Cameri Theatre, 1984)
Five
A Question of Relevance: 256
Productions in the 1990s, an era ofg lobal reorganisation and instability
19. Katie Mitchell/Kenneth McLeish, Women of Troy 258
(London, Gate Theatre, 1991)
20. Lynne Parker/Brendan Kennelly, Trojan Women 264
(Dublin, Peacock Theatre, 1993)
21. Annie Castledine/ Kenneth McLeish, Women of Troy 272
(London, Royal National Theatre, 1995)
22. Jane Montgomery/Euripides, Trojan Women 280
(Cambridge, Cambridge Greek Play, 1998)
23. Joanne Akalaitis/Nicholas Rudall, Trojan Women 285
(Washington D.C., Shakespeare Theatre, 1999)
24. David Freeman/Nigel Osborne, Sarajevo: An Opera 290
(London, Queen Elizabeth Hall, 1994)
25. Charles Mee, Trojan Women: A Love Story 293
USA, Various theatres, 1995
Afterword
A brief discussion ofp roductions post 11th September 2001 298
Appendix I
Details of Featured Productions 306
Bibliography 329
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
On 6 December 1938, Hallie Flanagan (Director of the Federal Theatre Project) appeared
before the Senate House Committee of Un-American Activities to defend herself and
the Project against the charge of Communism. Here follows an extract from her
transcript.1
Senator Starnes: I want to quote from immediately preceding Shakespeare.
your article "A Theater Is Born," on page
Mr. Starnes:
915 of the Theatre Arts Monthly, edition of
Yes. Put that in the record because the
November 1931: "Unlike any art form
charge has been made that this article of
existing in America today, the workers'
yours is entirely Communistic, and we
theaters intend to shape the life of this
want to help you. [... ] Of course, we had
country, socially, politically, and
what some people call Communists back
industrially. They intend to remake a
in the days of the Greek theater.
social structure without the help of
money - and this ambition alone invests
Mrs. Flanagan:
their undertaking with a certain
Quite true.
Marlowesque madness." You are
quoting from this Marlowe. Is he a Mr. Starnes:
Communist? And I believe Mr. Euripides was guilty of
teaching class consciousness also, wasn't
Mrs. Flanagan: I am very sorry. I was
he?
quoting from Christopher Marlowe.
Mrs. Flanagan:
Mr. Starnes: Tell us who Marlowe is, so
I believe that was alleged against all of
we can get the proper reference, because
the Greek dramatists.
that is all we want to do.
Mr. Starnes:
Mrs. Flanagan: Put in the record that he So we cannot say when it began.
was the greatest dramatist in the period
Under interrogation, I can confidently say that this dissertation began with the discovery
that Mr. Euripides also had a few things to teach us about war. The journey thereafter could
not have been possible without the enduring support of my supervisor, Professor Oliver
Taplin, who also helped me look after my other love, the Oxford Classical Drama Society. I
would also like to acknowledge the essential and kind advice of the following people at
various stages of the project: Dr Fiona Macintosh, Professor Edith Hall, Professor Marsh
Thirty Years of Treason: Excerpts from Hearings before the House Committee of Un-American Activities
1938-1968
11
McCall, Dr Pantelis Michelakis, Professor Marianne McDonald, Professor Oswyn Murray,
Dr Angus Bowie and Dr Laura Bradley. In addition, Dr Yoav Rinon, Theodore Mann, and
Joey Stocks provided helpful source material for the Israeli and Circle-in-the-Square
productions. I am indebted to Amanda Wrigley (and Chris Weaver) at the Archive for the
Performances of Greek and Roman Drama in Oxford for regular access to the production
material on which much of this dissertation is based. Thanks to both Amanda and Kathleen
Riley for their staunch support on many fronts over the years, and especially for helping to
sustain the Dionysus Recast series. I would also like to thank Shlomit Wallerstein, Gunther
Martin, Celine Vacher, Monika Class, and Dominik Zaum for their generosity in providing
translations and valuable advice on various source materials.
I acknowledge with deep gratitude the financial support of the following organisations and
individuals during my time in Oxford: The Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission, the
Andrew Mellon Foundation, Balliol College, and Peter Bing.
The support and encouragement of friends has made my Oxford experience enjoyable and
bearable and meaningful. Thank you to Claire Greener and Clare Backhouse for conducting
various rescue missions over the course of a decade of friendship; Heidi Stalla, Alice May
Bugman, and John Bohannon for always reminding me of my creative potential; Jen Cotrill
for listening to never-ending sagas and Celine Vacher for hosting much-needed Paris
getaways; Phil Clark, Tom Murray-Rust, and James Hickling for always seeing the
humorous side (particularly of Junior Dean fiascos); illustrious members of the Zebra and
Insomnia Clubs (2000-2005) for providing proper distraction from academic work
(especially Carrie Trowbridge, Aliette Carre, James Bickford-Smith, Karsten Ploger, Dom
Zaum); and Len Epp.
I dedicate this thesis to my father, Professor John Willis, for providing substantial and
continual guidance in the art of academic writing; to my mother, Anne, for never failing to
believe it was all possible; to my brothers, Kingsley and Goreleigh, and my grandfather, Dr
T.C. Jones, for their long-distance support; and to Toni, as always, for inspiration.
'The Trojan Women is a theatrical tour-de-force.'
Playboy Magazine, 1971
INTRODUCTION & METHODOLOGY
Theatre is made for this moment, for right now. It works only in the present.
Andrei Serban (Fragments of a Trilogy, 1974)
Greek tragedy must be appraised as a text crafted expressly for performance. In the
second half of the twentieth century, several important contributions towards establishing a
grammar of dramatic technique emerged, resulting in fresh analyses of Greek drama.1
While scholars working in this new field of inquiry explored the use of dramatic language
and patterns of action of plays within their ancient context, few investigations attempted to
consider how this technique might inform production decisions for revivals of these plays
in a contemporary context. More recently, several classical scholars working within the
general framework of Classical Reception2 have sought to define a methodology for
Performance Reception. One approach involves exploring ways of assessing the
1 For extensive discussions of the 'grammar of dramatic technique' in ancient tragedy, see: Michael Halleran,
The Stagecraft of Euripides (London: Croom & Helm, 1985), Donald Mastronarde, Contact and
Discontinuity: Some Conventions of Speech and Action on the Greek Tragic Stage, University of California
publications: Classical Studies, 21 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979), Oliver Taplin, The
Stagecraft of Aeschylus: The Dramatic Use of Exits and Entrances in Greek Tragedy (Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1977), andNicolaos Hourmouziades, Production and Imagination in Euripides: Form and Function of
the Scenic Space, Greek Society for Humanistic Studies: Second Series, 5 (Athens, 1965).
2 For reception theory (for an audience of readers, not spectators), see: Hans Robert Jauss, 'What is and for
what purpose does one study Literary History?' (1967) in Toward an Aesthetic of Reception, trans. by T.
Bahti (Brighton: Harvester, 1982) and Wolfgang Iser's works, especially, The Act of Reading: A Theory of
Aesthetic Response (London: Routledge, 1978). Both scholars have influenced Charles Martindale's seminal
book, Redeeming the Text: Latin Poetry and the Hermeneutics of Reception (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1993). For performance reception, see: Edith Hall, 'Towards a Theory of Performance
Reception', Arion, 12.1 (Spring/Summer 2004), 51-89, Loma Hardwick, Reception Studies, Greece & Rome:
New Studies in the Classics, 33 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), and in general: Reception Studies:
From Literary Theory to Cultural Studies, ed. by James Machor and Philip Goldstein (London: Routledge,
2001). In a recent debate on reception at the Classical Association's 2005 conference, Charles Martindale and
Christopher Rowe (modelled on an earlier debate on the subject between Peter Wiseman and Mary Beard at
Exeter University) challenged each other over the place and value of post-classical re-assessments of ancient
works. Performance reception was not considered in the debate.
performance history of a particular text within a chronological framework with special
emphasis placed on the production within its social and political contexts.3 Even as these
important new appraisals emerge, there are still several plays that have not yet been re-
evaluated using either approach; Euripides' Trojan Women is one.
In contrast to the approaches of recent studies4 which tend to examine theatre
productions from the 'outside', either by invoking theoretical models or seeking out
external factors which might inform production choices, I examine performance from the
'inside', by unearthing evidence of the practical elements (directorial and design choices:
set, costumes, lighting, music, etc.) and the promotional materials (programmes, press
releases, photographs, interviews of the creative team, etc.). This method allows for the
examination of how particular production decisions reflect, challenge, or engage with
outside factors concerning contemporary political, intellectual, and cultural issues. Trojan
Women is a particularly useful case study to explore within the parameters of this method
because the dynamism and immediacy of the play are most powerfully articulated when
3 For useful discussions of revivals of ancient drama, see: Anton Bierl, Die Orestie des Aischylos auf der
modernen Btihne: theoretische Konzeptionen und ihre szenische Realisierung (Stuttgart: M & P Verlag fur
Wissenschaft und Forschung, 1997), Karelisa Hartigan, Greek Tragedy on the American Stage, Contributions
in Drama and Theatre Studies, 60 (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1995), Fiona Macintosh, Dying
Acts: Death in Ancient Greek and Modern Irish Tragic Drama (Cork: Cork University Press, 1994),
Marianthe Colakis, The Classics in the American Theater of the 1960s and Early 1970s (Lanham, MD:
University Press of America, 1993), Helmut Flashar, Inszenierung der Antike: Das griechische Drama auf
der Btihne der Neuzeit (Munich: Beck, 1991), and J. Michael Walton, Living Greek Theatre: A Handbook of
Classical Performance and Modern Productions (New York: Greenwood Press, 1987).
4 See Dionysus Since 69: Greek Tragedy at the Dawn of the Third Millennium, ed. by Edith Hall, Fiona
Macintosh, and Amanda Wrigley (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004) (hereafter D69), Medea in
Performance: J500-2000, ed. by Edith Hall, Fiona Macintosh and Oliver Taplin (Oxford: Legenda, 2000)
(hereafter MP), and Peter Burian, 'Tragedy adapted for stages and screens: the Renaissance to the present'
and Fiona Macintosh, 'Tragedy adapted for stages and screens: the Renaissance to the present', in The
Cambridge Companion to Greek Tragedy, ed. by P.E. Easterling (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1997) (hereafter CCGT). See also Herman Altena, 'The Theater of Innumerable Faces' in The Blackwell
Companion to Greek Tragedy, ed. by Justina Gregory (Blackwell, forthcoming).
production choices allow for it to be wielded as a weapon of protest or reaction against
contemporary policy, especially the waging of war. Since the twentieth century was
characterised by widespread international and civil conflicts, it is not surprising that
significant productions of Trojan Women cluster around periods of hostility.
Why does Euripides' Trojan Women boast such a rich and varied production record
during the twentieth century, but a relatively scarce pre-twentieth-century performance
history? This question is answered primarily by the fact that in the nineteenth century,
Trojan Women was overshadowed by Hector Berlioz's Les Troyens (a dramatisation based
in part on Book II of the Aeneid and composed in 1856-58), and suffered by association
with Hecuba, considered then to be a particularly problematic text (in the Renaissance
Trojan Women had been sidelined in favour of Hecuba in Erasmus' 1524 popular Latin
translation). Further obscurity was ensured by early nineteenth-century criticism of the play
for being episodic and without plot or action; for being a catalogue of lamentation; for
lacking a hero; and generally for lacking the qualities of a tragedy worthy of Aristotelian
praise. For example, A.W. von Schlegel, the leading German proponent of the so-called
'damnatio of Euripides',5 indicted Trojan Women for its disunity.6 Ten years before, his
brother, Friedrich, in 'On female characters in Greek Poetry,' considered Euripides to be a
'woman-hater' who 'takes occasion when he can, to declaim in the harshest manner against
5 See Ernst Behler, 'A.W. Schlegel and the Nineteen-Century Damnatio of Euripides', Greece, Rome, and
Byzantine Studies, 21A (1986), 335-67.
6 A.W. Schlegel, A Course of Lectures on Dramatic Art and Literature, trans. by John Black, 2nd edn, 2 vols
(London: J. Templeman, 1840), I, pp. 179.