Trojan Women, LIFT Festival 2018

Trojan Women, a contemporary opera, first catapulted to success in Seoul in 2016 and celebrated huge success last year at the Singapore International Festival of Arts. The show is now about to embark on its UK debut when it is showcased as part of LIFT 2018, London’s International Festival of Theatre.

Singaporean director Ong Keng Sen fuses a classic epic with a traditional type of Korean musical storytelling and combines this with modern K pop music in a performance which sees 25 singers, actors and musicians collaborate in a new version of Euripedes’ tragedy.

The National Changgeuk Company of Korea, a leading resident company of the National Theatre of Korea, echoes the emotion and passion of Greek theatre in its portrayal of the strength and endurance of women. The performance draws parallels between the trauma faced by the Trojan women in the ancient world and the intense suffering experienced by Korean women who have survived war and conflict.

Trojan Women emphasises the connection between war and division in ancient Greece and contemporary Korea and ultimately celebrates the importance of female solidarity in the face of adversity, through music and movement.