Mengping Huo

The Hekabe is a tragedy written by the ancient Greek playwright Euripides. It is a play full of hopelessness and despair. In order to make the play better resonate with the audience, an immersive space needs to be created to allow the audience to imagine themselves as close witnesses to this cruel story.

In the Fairfax Studio and Athenaeum Theatre, performance has been limited to a designated performance space and the audience function as passive observers. FortyFive Downstairs provides an immersive space without spatial division between the audience and actors to better communicate the personal experience of Hekabe to the audience.

In order to achieve an immersive experience, there is no defined seating area for the audience. The audiences are actually experiencing the play, not watching the play. Sand will be used as a material suggesting where the story takes place. Making the audience feel they are actually sitting in the encampment of the Greek army on the shore of Thrace. Beneath the sand, there will be a dark red carpet to imply the character's death and the cruelty of the story. A tent landscape has been set at the back surrounded the whole space to express that Hekabe or even all Trojans have been surrounded by cruelty.