Theatre

Dramatizing ‘a mystery that has come to us in echoes and whispers from over three thousand years ago’, Armitage’s play follows on from the account of the Greeks’ wooden horse in Homer’s Odyssey to tell the story of the Trojan War to its bitter end. Set in present-day Hisarlik, the site of ancient Troy, with a cast of gods and mortals, the play explores an ancient conflict that rages to this day.

Four deserters bring the body of a dead soldier back to his home town, a northern mining community. The group's leader, Serjeant Musgrave, plans to hold the townsfolk at gunpoint, present them with the dead body and make them face the reality of war. First performed in 1959, Arden's play is now regarded as a modern classic. With commentary and notes by Glenda Leeming.