In what way are Euripides and his tragedy Hecuba a source of inspiration for you today? It starts with the language. I wanted to work on this specific style, at once clear and powerful. To use those words, those sentences written twenty-five centuries ago. With Hecuba , Euripides created a sort of breach in classical tragedy.
For the first time, he gives us to hear the inner life of the characters, creating a sensitive portrait based on their feelings. He might be the very first author who conceived of and allowed for a psychological reading of the protagonists.
In a way, it was revolutionary. Who is she? The queen of Troy enslaved after the fall of her city, Hecuba sees her children used as spoils of war and split between the victors.
When her last son, given to the king of Thrace, is found murdered—his body left unburied—she orchestrates her vengeance, then presents her case to Agamemnon… A wounded woman demanding justice, Hecuba is also a political symbol. This text is first and foremost a powerful material which allows to tackle the question of representation in theatre, of its public dimension. Not doing adaptations. This way of working probably comes from the trust I have in theatre.
From the role theatre can play in our lives. I read a lot about it, from medical literature to witness testimonies and news stories… So many sources I then turned into fiction and poetry.
