The posting below is modified very slightly from the posting at westminster.edu/greek_theatre/

In September of 2014 The Classical Greek Theater Festival of Westminster College will bring to BYU a production of Euripides’ dark tragedy HECUBA, a play
rarely read and seldom performed in recent years.

For many Hecuba is the archetypal mater dolorosa, the sorrowful mother grieving over the loss of her homeland Troy, her husband Priam and her many children. Euripides’ tragedy HECUBA tells the story of her sufferings after the fall of Troy, her failure to save her young daughter Polyxena from the Greeks and her discovery of the murder of her youngest son Polydorus. Like so many Greek (and Elizabethan) tragedies, HECUBA explores the causes, methods and effects of revenge, perhaps the primary meaning of the Greek word for justice (dike). Euripides plots Hecuba’s journey from vulnerable victim to ruthless avenger by three rhetorical debates, a debate with Odysseus over the life of Polyxena which she loses, a debate with Agamemnon which she wins, and a final debate with her victim Polymestor in which no one wins. Euripides’ HECUBA deals with the aftermath of war where the winners jockey for political power
and prestige and the victims are frequently women and innocent children.

Barbara Smith, a professor of Theater at Westminster College, will direct a production of Euripides’ HECUBA featuring a recent American translation by Marianne McDonald. Spencer Brown of Westminster College will create the set design with costumes by Valerie Nishiguchi, original music by Andrew Olsen and choreography by Enid Atkinson.

Students in ClCv 241, section 1 are required to see one performance of this production. The 22 September performance is likely the easiest for most to view. Students who cannot attend one of the performances can substitute — with permission — the viewing of The Trojan Women (dir. M. Cacoyannis) available on DVD.

Production Schedule:

Westminster College, Jay W. Lees Courage Theatre: September 5, 7:30PM, FREE for Westminster Community (students, staff, faculty) AND September 6, 2014, 7:30 PM

Zion National Park, OC Tanner Amphitheater, September 13, 9AM

Weber State University, Wildcat Theatre, September 17, 7:30PM

Utah Cultural Celebration Center, September 19, 7:30PM

Red Butte Garden, September 20 & 21, 9AM

Brigham Young University, September 22, DeJong Concert Hall, 5:00PM

Red Butte Garden, September 27 & 28, 9AM

**An orientation lecture by the dramaturge, Prof. James T. Svendsen, will precede each show thirty minutes before each performance, i.e. in the DeJong at 4:30 p.m. on 22 September.