Auditions for Euripides’ The Trojan Women will be 18-19 October 2025, Tooms Place, Lyons (Scout Hall), Canberra. All welcome. Experienced actors and first-timers.
Requirements:
- 2 minute monologue from the character you are auditioning for (script below)
- Group chorus audition, about 30 mins, Page 10 of script, Members of Chorus, from Alas, alas, with what kind of lament … to … from the sacred fountain of Peirene (pronounced pie-ray-nee).
- Script translation by Ian Johnston, Vancouver Island University, Canada. Public domain.
Audition Bookings: Email michael@greektheatrenow.com.au
Inquiries: Michael J Smith 0415 818 673.
Director: Cate Clelland
Assistant Director: Lachlan Ruffy
Special Adviser to Greek Theatre Now: Emeritus Professor of Classics at The Australian National University Elizabeth Minchin
Special Adviser to Greek Theatre Now: Dr Peter Londey, ancient Greece, military and war historian
Artistic Director & Producer: Michael J Smith.
Characters
Poseidon: god of the sea and earthquakes, brother of Zeus
Athena: goddess of wisdom, daughter of Zeus
Hecuba: queen of Troy, widow of Priam, an old woman
Cassandra: daughter of Hecuba, a prophetess
Andromache: widow of Hector, daughter-in-law of Hecuba
Helen: ex-wife of Menelaus and of Paris
Talthybius: herald of the Argive forces
Astyanax: infant son of Hector and Andromache
Menelaus: co-commander of the Argive army, Helen’s first husband
Chorus: captive people of Troy
Soldiers and Attendants: troops from the Argive army.
Story
Euripides’ The Trojan Women premiered in Athens 415 BC, 2500 years ago, at the City Dionysia, a major annual religious festival to honour Dionysus, the god of wine, fertility, theatre and ‘ritual ecstasy’ – abandonment of self, freedom from societal constraints, connection with Source.
After 10 years of war the city of Troy is in ashes. The men are dead. The women, a prize of war, are forced into sexual slavery. The victorious Greeks show no mercy. What happens to women and children on the losing side of a war? This is their story. Written 2500 years ago in Athens during the brutal 27-year Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta, The Trojan Women is Euripides’ powerful anti-war statement about the dehumanisation of war.
Rehearsals. From Sunday 1 February 2026:
- Sundays 2 pm to 6 pm
- Mondays 7 pm to 10 pm
- Wednesdays 7 pm to 10 pm.
Performances. Burbidge Amphitheatre, Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra, Clunies Ross Street, Acton, ACT 2601. Weekday AM performances are for schools and general public:
- Dress Rehearsal: Tue 31 March 10.30 am
- Perf 1: Wed 1 April 10.30 am to 12.30 pm
- Perf 2: Thu 2 April 10.30 am to 12.30 pm
- Perf 3: Thu 2 April 2.30 pm to 4.30 pm
- Perf 4: Good Friday 3 April 2.30 pm to 4.30 pm
- Perf 5: Easter Saturday 4 April 2.30 pm to 4.30 pm
- Perf 6: Easter Sunday 5 April 2.30 pm to 4.30 pm
- Perf 7: Easter Monday 6 April 2.30 pm to 4.30 pm.
Perth, WA, 24-29 September 2026, King’s Birthday long weekend:
- Thu 24 Sept: Fly to Perth
- Fri 25 Sept: Dress Rehearsal
- Sat 26 Sept: Perf 1
- Sun 27 Sept: Perf 2
- Mon 28 Sept King’s Birthday public holiday: Perf 3
- Tue 29 Sept: Fly to Canberra.
Greek Theatre Now to pay 50% of each person’s flight/accommodation costs.
Democracy
“The ancient Greek theatre plays explore the role of the individual and the role of the collective,” said GTN Artistic Director and Producer Michael J Smith. “They are as important and relevant today as they were 2500 years when they premiered in Athens during the birth of democracy.”
