Karmen Azzopardi in the title role.

Veteran actress Karmen Azzopardi will be making her comeback to the Manoel Theatre after an absence of several years, taking the title role in Euripides’s Hekuba. Azzopardi had already interpreted this role to acclaim 15 years ago, in what is consid-ered one of the greatest Greek tragedies, penned circa 424 BC.

Hekuba is set in Troy, with events taking place after the Trojan War but before the Greeks had departed from the city. The central figure is Hekuba, wife of King Priam, once queen of the conquered city.

The dominant theme is Hekuba’s desperate grief on the death of her daughter Polyxena and the eventful revenge she wreaks on King Polymestor after the latter betrays  and kills  her son Polydorus, robbing him of the  gifts of gold and jewellery that he had been carrying.

The play opens with the ghost of Polydorus declaiming and lamenting how, after the fall of Troy, he had been sent to Polymestor for protection and how the King had betrayed him, killed him and robbed him of the gifts he had taken with him. But why did Polymestor kill the young man? Why did he actually want to be rid of him?

The dominant theme is Hekuba’s desperate grief on the death of her daughter Polyxena and the eventful revenge she wreaks on King Polymestor after the latter betrays and kills her son

In Thrace, Hekuba, now as slave of the Greeks, is mourning the loss of her throne and her city. The Chorus foretells the eventual death of her daughter Polyxena and Hekuba is devastated. Why has Polyxena got to die, or be killed? To whom does Hekuba turn in a desperate plea to save her daughter’s life?

To the funereal chant of the Chorus, the corpse of Polydorus is carried on stage after having been washed upon the shore. When Hekuba discovers that her son had been murdered, her grief knows no limit and she seeks revenge. She begs Agamemnon, King of Mycenae, to help her vindicate the death of her son and daughter. Cassandra, another of Hekuba’s daughters, is one of Agamemnon’s concubines and thus the king is reluctant to help the distraught mother. What does he do? Does he help Hekuba, knowing too well the risk of offending the Greeks?

Polymestor hides the truth of her son from Hekuba, a truth which she now well knows. And she is more than ever keen on revenge. What does Hekuba do to lure Polymestor and his two sons into her camp?

And what happens to Polymestor and his sons? What does King Agamemnon do at the sight of Hekuba’s gory  revenge? Does the King endorse what Hekuba had done? And what does a desperate and disfigured Polymestor foretell for Hekuba and Agamemnon himself?

Besides Azzopardi, taking part in the play is also a cast of well-established actors, including Mario Micallef, Michael Tabone, Anthony Ellul, Alan Fenech, Lee-N Abela, André Mangion and Amanda Cachia. The choir is made up of Marcelline Galea, Kim Dalli, Michelle Zerafa, Daniela Carabott Pawley, Shelby Aquilina, Amanda Cachia, Veronica Mizzi, Claire Buhagiar and Marionia Mallia.

Hekuba was translated into Maltese by Alfred Palma and the production is under the direction of Josette Ciappara.

Hekuba runs on November 25, 26 and 27 at the Manoel Theatre, Valletta. Tickets are available online, by sending an e-mail to bookings@ teatrumanoel.com.mt or by calling on 2124 6389.

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