Syrian women express their plight through Trojan tragedy

AMMAN — “History is repeating itself. War never changes — in the past, now — it never changes. It makes people suffer.”

For Reem, the suffering of the Syrian people echoes the plight of the women of Troy, who — according to Greek mythology — saw their city ransacked and their men brutally killed and enslaved by the Athenians.

The 22-year-old is part of a group of Syrian refugee women who took part in a production in Amman this week of “The Trojan Women”, written by Greek playwright Euripides in 451BC.

At the heart of the Greek tragedy are the repercussions of war on women.

“The great tragedy for women in war is that they are almost always the victims,” Charlotte Eagar, a British writer and one of the show’s producers, told The Jordan Times.

“Women never want war, but they have to pick up the pieces.”

For Eagar, as a journalist in Srebrenica during the Bosnian war, Euripides’ Trojan Women mirrored the anguish of the Bosnian refugees she spoke to.

Twenty years later, in war-ridden Syria, the Greek tragedy is just as relevant.

“We resemble the women in the play — our own suffering is like their suffering,” said Fatima, dressed in her costume of black abaya and black hijab outside the rehearsal room at the National Centre for Culture and Arts.

None of the 25 women who took part in the production had previous acting experience. Many had never heard of the Greek tragedy or the pillaging of Troy.

But Fatima, like many of the other Syrian refugees, decided to take part because it speaks to her own experience fleeing her hometown of Homs in Syria.

“When we started working, we were surprised by the similarities between the characters in the Greek play and the personal stories of the women who participated,” said Syrian director Omar Abu Saada, who has previously worked at the Royal Court Theatre in London and the Kennedy Centre in Washington, DC.

A month-long acting workshop leading up to the performances on Tuesday and Wednesday allowed the women to open up and share their experiences, according to Syrian producer Itab Azzam, who believes the workshop was like “therapy for the women”.

“They get a chance to tell their stories,” she said. After having lost everything, the experience of acting gives them back a sense of control over their lives, Azzam explained.

Director Abu Saada later incorporated some of the personal stories of the women into the play, rewriting the script to reflect their experiences.

“We are able to talk about our pain, to talk about our suffering,” Fatima said. “My friends and I feel more empowered now.”

Finding women to take part in the production was initially a huge challenge. Azzam and her colleague, Hal Scardino, went to the homes of Amman’s urban Syrian refugees, meeting around 100 women and their families to talk about the production.

“Most of the women come from conservative environments; their response was often that they don’t know if they can act,” Azzam noted. But the news spread quickly — starting out with only 18 women, after a few days the producers were forced to turn many away.

“In the beginning it was difficult, but as time went along it was a great experience,” Fatima said.

Initially shy and withdrawn, clutching their handbags, the women now exude confidence. And with them, their children, for whom the producers set up a crèche in the theatre so that the women could bring them to the rehearsals.

The acting workshop has increased their confidence and their ability to express themselves, Abu Saada said.

“Now, when we’re on stage, we feel complete comfort,” Fatima added.

“I feel so much better than before; I met Syrians like me, and many of them have had more terrible experiences than I have had,” said Reem, who managed to escape her hometown of Sayyidah Zaynab, near Damascus, with her parents and seven siblings.

“Our situation is miserable; in the camps, outside of the camps, in Syria, outside of Syria,” she said, tearing up. “We want the whole world to hear us, to see us.”

A feature film of “The Trojan Women” shot in Jordan and starring Arab and international actors, as well as a documentary of the acting workshop, is to follow.

But Eagar hopes to find funding to enable the women taking part in the play to continue their acting and perhaps take “The Trojan Women” on tour.

“This play will be our legacy to the women."

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