Review: Greek Tragedies for Contemporary Times: Three Reimagined Classical Plays

There is something enticing about stories perceived as ‘ancient’ but presented as contemporary. There's a reason we continue returning to Greek classics, Shakespearean tragedies, European comedies and other texts that are hundreds or even thousands of years old. There's more reason still that these texts are consistently found in theatre programmes, acting courses and school curriculums.

As the cover of Greek Tragedies for Contemporary Times states: ‘Protest, desire, free will: the central themes of Greek classics have never been more prescient.’ They're not wrong there. These three reimagined plays were first commissioned by the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre for its Springboard programme for new actors. This trio of offers imaginative and thought-provoking takes on Greek classics, with fantastic performance opportunities for students and actors alike.