Hecuba Review 2004

Opened 14 Sep 2004
Written: by Euripides, in a new version by Frank McGuinness.
Directed: Jonathan Kent
Cast: Clare Higgins (Hecuba) , Tim Piggott-Smith (Agamemnon) , Alfred Burke (Talthybius), Susan Engel (the speaking chorus) , Kate Fleetwood (Polyxena), Finbar Lynch (Polymestor) , Eddie Redmayne (Polydorus); Eve Polycarpou (The Singer / chorus); Nicholas Day
Synopsis: When Troy capitulates and falls to the Greeks, its queen Hecuba is both widowed and enslaved. Left to mourn the loss of both city and husband, when fresh atrocities come to light her pallid grief turns to a thirst for revenge.

What the critics had to say.....
NICHOLAS DE JONGH for THE EVENING STANDARD says, "Enthralling production." CHARLES SPENCER for THE DAILY TELEGRAPH says, "Clare Higgins is in sensational form...This is a production that those who see it are unlikely to forget, one that honours the ancient original while also tapping into the terrors of today." MICHAEL BILLINGTON for THE GUARDIAN says, "What Higgins does brilliantly is show the cool calculation of Hecuba's revenge." BENEDICT NIGHTINGALE for THE TIMES says, "Here is a portrait of a queen and mother in the moral and emotional abyss: abject yet commanding, vulnerable yet ferocious, moving yet nauseating." PAUL TAYLOR for THE INDEPENDENT says, "A new production of enthralling clarity."

External links to full reviews from popular press
Daily Telegraph
The Guardian
The Times
The Independent

Production photo by Ivan Kyncl