The Trojan Women - Paperback

by Jessie Holder Tourtellotte (Author)

"Where men make war, and women weep."

This haunting line is drawn from Jessie Holder Tourtellotte's new adaptation of Euripides' The Trojan Women.

Troy, days after the fall.

The women of the conquered city await their fates amid the wreckage. Among them: Hecuba, queen of a fallen city; Cassandra, the prophetess who was never believed; Helen, of Troy or Sparta, blamed for the war; and Andromache, once a princess, now orphan, widow, mother, and soon to be slave. As the ships load spoils of war and the Greek army prepares to depart, a lonely young soldier grapples with his own actions when faced with the human suffering of people he has now met, and a profound connection he could not foresee.

A powerful exploration of the consequences of violence and the culpability of witnesses to wrongdoing, laced with questions about the purpose of love and of attempting to pursue hope in the most hopeless of circumstances. An expanded cast including famous figures from The Trojan war creates dynamic, present conflict and theatrical opportunities for artists and audiences alike to engage deeply with the material. A human story with contemporary resonance, told in heightened text and movement, replete with music and imagery, Jessie Holder Tourtellotte's powerful and urgent new adaptation of Euripides' famous tragedy gives voice to its characters with tenderness and ferocity, adding gripping pace and stakes to ancient poetic laments, calling out a warning to its audience as relevant today as it was thousands of years ago.

Firelight Theatre Workshop's Nora Fiffer calls it "unflinching and raw," while Jubilee Productions' Nicole Starrett describes it as a "symphony made for the gods" that "demands to be heard aloud". Reviewers from the Cappies of the National Capital Area described the 2025 world premiere as a "visionary production" that by exploring "women's stories and narratives of genocide, so often pushed into the dark" manages to "breathe life, yet again, into a tragedy as old as time." The play asks us to consider what it means to witness injustice, and the true consequences of violence, and whether compassion can move us to action before it is too late.

A haunting work for the stage that honors the classical theatre of antiquity while demanding modern audiences listen to the echoes that still haunt the world today, The Trojan Women is for readers and theatre artists alike, and rights to stage the piece are available.