Hecuba (2018)

Director’s notes

Hecuba is an examination of the psychology of the powerful and the powerless in time of con ict. Hecuba’s world, not so unlike today, is unstable and characterized by sudden changes and violence. The justice Hecuba seeks comes at the price of the dehumanization of the other side of the con ict, catapulting our story into a cycle of violence.

We know that the Greeks were masterful storytellers and so Hecuba is also a play about how we tell stories and who gets to control the narrative of these mythic tales. We had the unique opportunity of having Euripides in the room with us by way of Greek translator Diane Rayor. She provided us with a unique connection to the past during rehearsal while listening for the desired trans guration of the text to bring the story alive today. Those intricate adjustments are present in this production.

For this production of Hecuba, we are honored to welcome four other outstanding professional artists to our team. Jonathan Becker’s masterful masks provide a rich palette for our actors’ creation of character. The hauntingly beautiful music, composed by Jesse Manno, grew out of the same genuine intrigue of what ancient Greek music sounded like and how to make it meaningful today. Clare Henkel’s inspired costumes and Caitlin Ayer’s poetic scene design invite us into a world where kings and political prisoners alike realize they are cut from the same human cloth, regardless of their wealth, politics or ethnicity.

—Tamara Meneghini