Bethany Cherry

Anne Carson’s contemporary translation of ‘Hekabe’ is an innovative and artistic portrayal of the casualties of war. With a theatrical lens levelled at the women in the play, particularly the Trojan Queen, Hekabe, Carson offers a modern perspective.

The Melbourne venue ‘fortyfive Downstairs’ offers modern mechanics that allow the breakdown of traditional boundaries in theatre, which separate the audience from the story. With no embellishments of traditional theatre decoration, ‘fortyfive downstairs’ is honest in its simplicity. With no defined spaces like a stage or orchestra, the boundaries between viewer and the story space are non-existent. It is a small venue, and the viewer is sitting a mere meter away from the acting space. Proximity is key in this design.

The small scale and level floor offers the opportunity for the view to experience vernacular texture. Sand will be the only material suggestion of the environment. The story takes place on the Thracian shore. Keeping the original context of the ancient Greek story adds a sense of weight to it. The audience will walk over the sand to reach their seats, leaving their impression on the space, quite literally now a part of it.