Fifty women leave everything behind to board a boat in North Africa and flee across the Mediterranean. They are escaping forced marriage in their homeland, hoping for protection and assistance, seeking asylum in Greece.
Written 2,500 years ago by the great playwright Aeschylus, this is one of the world’s oldest plays, The Suppliant Women. At its heart are fifty young women in full chorus arguing for their lives, speaking to us through the ages with startling resonance for our times.
Reuniting the creative team behind the acclaimed production The Events, The Guardian’s best play of 2013, The Suppliant Women uses the techniques of Ancient Greek theatre - recruiting and training the citizens of each city it visits to create an extraordinary theatrical event. Part play, part ritual, part theatrical archaeology, it offers an electric connection to the deepest and most mysterious ideas of the humanity - who are we, where do we belong and if all goes wrong - who will take us in?
★★★★★ Aeschylus’s tale of escape from forced marriage and the perils of exile is made brilliantly tense in David Greig’s thoroughly democratic production
— Mark Fisher, The Guardian
★★★★★ An exhilarating show, rich with resonance and power. Rush to see it whilst you can
— Simon Thompson, What's on Stage
★★★★ In Ramin Gray’s production the rhythms of the writing tightly entwine with a sparsely beautiful soundtrack of percussion and ancient aulos pipes to truly hypnotic effect
— Allan Radcliffe, The Times
★★★★ Achingly expressive...incredibly moving
— Charlotte Runcie, The Telegraph
★★★★ A bold production from director Ramin Gray
— Thom Dibdin , The Stage
★★★★ Tremendous, thrilling clarity......relentless, restless engagement with the issues of the day
— Joyce McMillan, The Scotsman
★★★★ A dynamic exploration of theatre's potential as a space for political discussion
— Gareth K Vile, The List
★★★★★ Like all great art, this forces us to look hard at ourselves, and ask big, tough, difficult questions.
— David Petherick, Edinburgh Festival
★★★★ This quite astonishing theatrical achievement …incredibly moving. Empowering and unmissable!
— Irene Brown, Edinburgh Guide
★★★★ Go, enjoy. There may not be a show like this one for another two thousand, five hundred years
— Philip Caveney, Bouquets & Brickbats
★★★★ Inspired and relevant … massed chorales delivered with choreographic fire … a mammoth feat
— Neil Cooper, The Herald
★★★★ Impressive and timeless
— Hugh Simpson, All Edinburgh Theatre
★★★★ This new production clearly demonstrates its ongoing relevance
— Amy Hanson, Broadway World
★★★★ An inventive and compelling piece
— Ben Reiss, Plays to See
Production Shots by Stephen Cummiskey
The making of The Suppliant Women
The Company in Rehearsals by Aly Wight
Omar Ebrahim - Danaos/ Egyptian Herald
Gemma May and these wonderful women from Edinburgh will take to the the stage as the chorus
Gemma May - Chorus Leader
Ramin Gray - Director
John Browne - Composer
Sasha Milavic Davies - Choreogrpher
Callum Armstrong - Aulos Player
Ben Burton - Percussionist
Oscar Batterham - The King
Omar Ebrahim - Danaos and Egyptian Herald
Gemma May - Chorus Leader