Actors Touring Company and Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, UK present The Suppliant Women at the Dublin Theatre Festival
An epic feminist protest song. ★★★★★ The Guardian
Achingly expressive... incredibly moving. ★★★★ The Telegraph
An exhilarating show, rich with resonance and power. Rush to see it whilst you can. ★★★★★ What's on Stage
Fifty women leave everything behind to board a boat in North Africa and flee across the Mediterranean. They are escaping forced marriage in their homeland, hoping for protection and assistance, seeking asylum in Greece.
Written 2,500 years ago by the great playwright Aeschylus, The Suppliant Women is one of the world’s oldest plays. This is a story about the plight of refugees, moral and human rights, civil war, democracy and ultimately the triumph of love - a tale that echoes down the ages to find striking and poignant resonance today.
Reuniting the creative team behind the hugely acclaimed The Events, The Guardian’s best play of 2013, The Suppliant Women uses the techniques of Ancient Greek theatre – recruiting and training local volunteers who perform alongside a professional cast to create an extraordinary theatrical event.
Part play, part ritual, part theatrical archaeology, it offers an electric connection to the deepest and most mysterious ideas of humanity – who are we, where do we belong and if all goes wrong – who will take us in?
In each city where The Suppliant Women is performed the company recruits a volunteer community cast of men and women, including a chorus of young local women aged 16-25, and Dublin is no different!