Trojan Barbie

‘They never asked about the women.’

When a city falls, its people must bear the wreckage. A live news crew will film the destruction but not the aftermath. It does not capture a mother looking for her lost boys, a fallen woman trying to keep up appearances, a young girl’s duty to pay off a bargain she’d never been participant to. They are merely numbers, tallied up figures for the television reports. They are not human. They are mere dolls.

Darkly humorous and epically tragic, Trojan Barbie is an exhilarating play. Placing characters of antiquity within the very real world of a military occupied refugee camp, the play explores how, after over two millennia, we are still no closer to solving the consequences of war and the people it leaves behind. Hecuba, Polyxena, Cassandra, Andromache, Helen of Troy and Lotte of Reading all hurtle towards their fate in this electric modern spectacle about war, its reverberations, and its women. Whether it’s ancient myth or a vivid reality…

‘They never asked about the women.’

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Emma Kemsley-Pein and Will Bishop sorting out the dirt.
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Kate Marston and Emma Blacklay-Piech
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Zoé Barnes
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Rebecca Thomas and a flying teddy bear.
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Bethan Davidson
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Zoé Barnes
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Emma Kemsley-Pein and Alice Carlill breaking a Barbie like a wish bone.
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Zoé Barnes breaking Barbie.
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Emma Kemsley-Pein and a male Barbie doll.
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Alice Carlill
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Lucy Dickson who works as a doll repair person
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Amanda Ekström and Rute Costa
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Rachel Bircher, Emma Kemsley-Pein and Alice Carlill
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Alice Carlill
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Bethan Davidson
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Emma Kemsley-Pein and Bethan Davidson
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Bethan Davidson, Emma Corrin, Zoé Barnes, Harrison MacNeill and Isla Cowan.
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Rachel Bircher, Emma Kemsley-Pein, Emma Corrin and Rebecca Thomas
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Zoé Barnes, Rachel Bircher, Harrison MacNeill, Rebecca Thomas, Emma Kemsley-Pein and Isla Cowan
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Emma Corrin and Bethan Davidson
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Emma Corrin
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Alice Carlill and Ben Martineau
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Lucy Dickson and Will Bishop
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Lucy Dickson and Kate Marston
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Kate Marston and Lucy Dickson
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Kate Marston
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Emma Corrin
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Alice Carlill and Ben Martineau
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Zoé Barnes and Bethan Davidson
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Bethan Davidson and Joe Spence
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Bethan Davidson and Emma Corrin
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Emma Corrin and Joe Spence
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Bethan Davidson and Kate Marston
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Lucy Dickson and Rebecca Thomas
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Lucy Dickson
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Alice Carlill
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Ben Martineau and Ronald Prokeš
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Ben Martineau and Alice Carlill
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Ronald Prokeš entering the tiger cage
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Harrison MacNeill
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Rebecca Thomas with Rachel Bircher in the background
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Zoé Barnes
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Bethan Davidson and Kate Marston
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Bethan Davidson, Rachel Bircher, Emma Kemsley-Pein, Joe Spence and Kate Marston
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Bethan Davidson, Joe Spence and Emma Kemsley-Pein
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Zoé Barnes, Isla Cowan, Joe Spence and Bethan Davidson
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Kate Marston and Joe Spence
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Kate Marston, Joe Spence and Isla Cowan
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Ronald Prokeš, Kate Marston and Bethan Davidson
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Bethan Davidson and Emma Corrin
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Will Bishop, Zoé Barnes, Bethan Davidson and Isla Cowan
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Zoé Barnes, Bethan Davidson, Isla Cowan, Will Bishop and Rebecca Thomas
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Zoé Barnes, Bethan Davidson, Isla Cowan, Will Bishop and Rebecca Thomas
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Bethan Davidson, Joe Spence, Rachel Bircher, Emma Kemsley-Pein and Lucy Dickson
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Bethan Davidson
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Bethan Davidson and Lucy Dickson
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Joe Spence, Bethan Davidson and Lucy Dickson
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Bethan Davidson, Zoé Barnes, Isla Cowan, Lucy Dickson, Rachel Bircher, Emma Kemsley-Pein and Ronald Prokeš
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Lucy Dickson and Will Bishop
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Lucy Dickson and Will Bishop
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Lucy Dickson
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Lucy Dickson and Bethan Davidson
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Lucy Dickson
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Sam Payne, Kathryn Dodds, Emily Galvin, Rachel Bircher, Hannah Sands, Emma Blacklay-Piech, Ronald Prokeš, Zoé Barnes, Will Bishop, Isla Cowan, Ben Martineau, Bethan Davidson, Emma Corrin, Alice Carlill, Kate Marston, Joe Spence, Lucy Dickson, Harrison MacNeill, Rose Payne and Rebecca Thomas.

Reviews: The Cambridge Student (9/10), Varsity (4.5/5), The Tab (4.5/5)

Cast
Hecuba – Bethan Davidson
Lotte – Lucy Dickson
Andromache – Kate Marston
Helen of Troy – Rebecca Thomas
Cassandra – Emma Corrin
Polly X – Alice Carlill
Mica – Harrison MacNeil
Menelaus – Will Bishop
Talthybius – Joe Spence
Jorge – Ben Martineau
Max – Ronald Prokes
Clea – Rachel Bircher
Esme – Emma Kemsley-Pein
Zoe – Zoe Barnes
Ayla – Isla Cowan

Production Team
Director – Emma Blacklay-Piech
Producer – Eleanor Mitchell
Assistant Director – Hannah Sands
Movement Director – Rute Costa
Technical Director – Leah Ward
Technical Advisor – Sheanna Patel
Master Carpenter – Peter Griffin
Set Designer – Eleanor Mitchell
Set Consultant – Harry Stockwell
Lighting Designer – Kathryn Dodds
Sound Designer – Emily Galvin
Chief Electrician – Sam Payne
Stage Manager – Saskia Baylis
Deputy Stage Manager – Rose Payne
Assistant Stage Manager – Caitlin Walsh, Issy Houston
Publicity Designer – Lewis Scott
Programme Designer – Lewis Scott
Headshot Photographer – Daniel Karaj
Costume Designer – Amanda Ekström
Set Painter – Anna Hackney, Jen Wardley, Ankita Anirban,Vicky Vanderstichele, Laura Cowan
Executive Delivery Boy – Charlie Gladstone
Photographer – Johannes Hjorth

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