Tasmania’s Ten Days on the Island arts festival will feature an adaptation of the ancient Greek play, Women of Troy.
The adaptation is heavily interweaved with the experiences of former detainee Behrouz Boochani, who tried to seek refuge in Australia but was detained for nearly seven years on Manus island.
The Kurdish-Iranian revisits his refugee journey and writes a series of poems to be transformed into songs for the play.
“It was quite difficult emotionally because I had to go through that experience that I had and also all of the stories that I witnessed, the stories that I heard in that context,” Boochani told ABC News.
Women of Troy is an ancient Greek tragedy by Euripides set in the aftermath of the war between the people of Melos and Troy.
The play is from the survivor’s perspective, particularly on the women who were passive victims of the war.
“There are more refugees than ever in the world — as we know, there’s atrocities against women and children happening every day, as we speak now — so it really is about reminding people about that, putting humanity and faces within that are in our voice,” actor and producer Marta Dusseldorp said.
The Women Of Troy’s seven-performance season runs from 8 to 12 March at Hobart’s Theatre Royal.
Source: ABC News
