The Trojan Women: the first accessible performance at Epidaurus

On a khaki background, the title Trojan Women appears in large black letters with a white shadow. The lettering looks fragmented, as if parts of it have been shifted or fractured. Around it, small black dots connect at points with fine black lines, evoking the feeling of constellations in the universe.

For the first time, a performance at the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus is presented with accessibility services for audiences with sensory disabilities. On July 31, 2026, the National Theatre of Greece stages Euripides’ The Trojan Women, directed by Eleni Efthymiou, marking a significant moment for Greek theatre and a meaningful step toward opening it up to broader audiences.

liminal leads the design and implementation of the accessibility services, ensuring equal access to the performance experience for all. We are proud to be part of this milestone for accessibility and look forward to welcoming you.

A black-and-white photograph shows a group of people dancing and celebrating in a rocky, barren landscape. Some play tambourines and drums, while others form spontaneous dances. Young and old, children and adults, standing or using wheelchairs, are all dressed in dark clothing — except for a girl of about ten, who wears a red dress. — @Karol Jarek

Twenty-two performers of different ages, with and without disabilities – including three on-stage musicians and actors from the En Dynamei Ensemble – foreground the musicality of the play through different bodies, voices, and experiences.

A distinctive reading of the play about the horror and absurdity of war, seen through the prism of the female body, which asserts its autonomy even under occupation.

About the Performance

In Euripides’ The Trojan Women, the bodies of women were not always held in captivity. Although they belonged to a deeply patriarchal society, they were — by the standards of their time — free: they had choices, dreams, and the possibility of a life with dignity.

As the end of an era approaches — of a life once glorious and at times merely bearable, of their very own history — the Trojan Women speak of the horror of war through the lens of the (female) body, which senses that it is about to be objectified and dehumanised.

Women dressed in black hurry down a rocky slope. They look ahead with weary faces and anxious gazes. — @Karol Jarek

Four men are thrown over the body of a woman lying on the ground. They pull at her clothes, seize her by the neck and torso, and forcefully hold her legs. The woman’s gaze is turned upward, as if caught in a moment of crisis or already lifeless. — @Karol Jarek

In Efthymiou’s Trojan Women, it is not only the beautiful, healthy, and privileged women of Priam’s family who await their destiny.

It is also the girls, and the elderly and disabled women, who even before the sack of the city were denied the right to make their own decisions and were rarely allowed to tell their own stories. In this sense, war is “just”: it always reduces the much to the little — and to nothing at all.

If all these skins, souls, gazes, wombs, and memories can be understood as those long oppressed, can the oppressed women of the world reclaim their right to self-determination? To scream their anger and hate, to laugh and lament amidst the chaos and the anguish? Will the women of Troy ever regain their physical autonomy?

Descending a rocky hill, a man with grey hair and a beard, accompanied by three others behind him, carries the body of a girl in his arms, her torso leaning back over his shoulder. Her red dress is the only colour that stands out in the black-and-white photograph. — @Karol Jarek

Four men walk among rocks under a bright sun, their backs turned to us. The man in front carries a girl in a red dress in his arms. She turns her face toward us and stretches her hands toward the camera, as if calling for help. — @Karol Jarek

Accessibility Services

liminal designs and delivers accessibility services for audiences with sensory disabilities for The Trojan Women, at the very site where theatre once reached its peak. Specifically, these include:

Interpretation in Greek Sign Language and
SDH Surtitles for D/deaf and Hard of Hearing people

and also

Audio Description for people with visual disabilities

Credits

Translation: Yannis Tsarouchis
Adaptation – Direction: Eleni Efthymiou
Dramaturgy consultant: Sophia Eftychiadou
Set design: Evangelia Kirkine
Costume design: Angelos Mentis
Music: Eleftherios Veniadis
Movement: Tasos Papadopoulos
Lighting design: Zoi Molyvda-Fameli
Sound design: Sofia Kamayianni
Music teacher: Melina Peonidou
Dramaturgy: Eva Saraga

Cast (in alphabetical order)

Menelaus: Giorgos Christodoulou
Hecuba: Lydia Fotopoulou
Andromache: Evi Saoulidou
Cassandra: Nancy Sideri
Helen: Vassiliki Troufakou
Talthybius: Argyris Xafis
Astyanax: Michalis Mitsis

Chorus

Myriam Artzanidou, Maria Dachlythra, Eleni Dimopoulou, Nikos Kyparissis, Irini Kourouvani, Loxandra Loukas, Lygeri Mitropoulou, Theano Papavasileiou, Katerina Papandreou, Niki Petala, Chryssa Toumanidou

Accessibility Credits

Surtitling for the D/deaf and Hard of Hearing: Grigoris Stathopoulos
Audio Description Script: Maria Thrasyvoulidi, Anna Dimkou
Audio Description Narration: Maria Thrasyvoulidi
Interpretation in Greek Sign Language: Androniki Xanthopoulou, Andreas Plemmenos
Quality Check: Andreas Plemmenos, Anna-Maria Foskolou
Surtitling software: supertitles.gr
Accessibility Services Design: liminal
Co-ordination: Christos Papamichael

The performance becomes accessible in the framework of Alpha Banks’ “Culture for All” programme.

Useful information

Day and time of accessible performance: Friday 31 of July 2026 at 21:00
Location: Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus
Duration: 2 hours
Tickets for disabled people – Companion: 5 euros

How to book tickets

Via email: [email protected]
Telephone reservations at the Group Sales Office: 2107001468 (Monday to Friday: 09.00-15.00)

For assistance with the reservation process, please contact us by email at [email protected].

Performance & accessibility sponsor