“I see how the high gods dispose this world; I see

The mean exalted to the sky, the great brought low.”

The morning after. The Greeks have won the Trojan War. The men are dead, the city is sacked and a terrible new dawn, as slaves and concubines, is the fate of the surviving Trojan women.

Euripides’ third part of a tragedy trilogy is a bleak commentary on the harsh inhumanity of the Peloponnesian War that was reshaping the Greek world of his time.

A familiar order upturned, faiths questioned and individuals deeply impacted, Euripides’ anti-war classic gives agency to feminine and alternative perspectives rarely recorded in the history of power struggles.

Fittingly, it remains as insightful for the turbulent times today.

“There’s nothing worse than a woman born disreputable –

except perhaps another woman.”

Someone wants Euripides dead. Actually, a lot of people do.

His crime? Insulting the women-folk. So what does the Greek tragedian do? Put a father-in-law in drag, a madcap discovery scheme in place and Aristophanes’ travesty of his playwright peer’s life falls into place as Thesmophoriazusae - also known as Women at the Festival of Thesmophoria.

One of the 11 surviving plays of brilliant comic poet, Aristophanes, Thesmophoriazusae does more than entertain ancient and contemporary theatre-goers. It remains one of the sharpest parodies of classical Athenian society that throws light on the glaring gender stereotyping and inequality that exists.

More than 2,000 years later since this witty work was penned, we continue to fight to right that disparity.

Aarne Neeme

Dawn Teo
Desmond Soh
Henrik Cheng
Isabelle Low
Mathilde Bagein
Namaha Mazoomdar
Regina Foo
Saranjith N.K.
Shirley Tan
Sonia Kwek
Tan Weiying
Uma Katju
Vanessa Wu
Wong Yunjie

Hella Chan

LIGHTING DESIGNER

Josiah Yoong

ASSISTANT LIGHTING DESIGNER

Fiona Lim

Photo by Bernie Ng. Styling by Leah Lim.