I left the Young Vic after this with a cocktail of feelings that included anger, sympathy, helplessness and guilt. I don’t go the theatre just for entertainment, I also go for learning, understanding and enlightenment and this was all three. It was a harrowing experience, but nowhere near as harrowing as the experiences of these women.
Thirteen Syrian women, all refugees, take Euripides play Trojan Women as their starting point. That play follows the women of Troy after the city has been sacked, their husbands killed and their families enslaved. You can see the parallel for a group of thirteen women who have lost or are parted from family members, living in a strange land, because of Syria’s civil war.
They tell us about their losses, how they miss their loved ones and their reception in the West. At one point they each talk about something they have brought with them, something they left behind and something they miss, which makes it all so personal. Speaking individually and as a chorus, occasionally in English but mostly in Arabic, with subtitles, we see the sadness in their eyes as well as hearing their tragic testimonies.
Like the concert of Syrian musicians at the Royal Festival Hall two weeks ago, this was a deeply moving experience. It seems to me it’s important to listen and good to provide a modicum of empathy. The theatre can do this and it should.
Gareth's Culture and Travel Blog 
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