Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon

Author:Ferdia Lennon [Lennon, Ferdia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

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THE main role in Trojan Women is Hecuba, and there isn’t even really a discussion about who gets it. Numa’s the best we have and is eager, so it’s his. After that, the key one is Cassandra and then Helen. The blokes in this play don’t do much but be pricks. Menelaus pops in near the end, but he has scant to say. No, the question now is who will play Cassandra and who will play Helen. Cassandra’s mental at this point but still gorgeous, and Agamemnon’s mad for her—wants to bring her back to Argos. The fucking eejit thinks his wife will welcome them with open arms, husband and mistress, but Cassandra knows that to go to Greece is to die. Yet she goes. It’s a good role and one I’d like Paches to have, but Gelon’s not so sure. He wants to see some others from the chorus give it a shot, and I guess that’s fair, but fuck it. I want Paches.

“There’s a symmetry to it.”

“Lampo, I’m busy.”

Fuck that. I’m a director too, and I say as much.

Gelon sighs and looks at me.

“Say your piece.”

“Think about it, man. We’re joining two plays. The audience is going to notice that it’s the same actors, and though that’s often a weakness, we can make it a strength. Play off their expectations, you know?”

“Go on.” Gelon’s not quite interested, but he’s not just humouring me anymore either.

“Well, Medea is a woman who killed her children, and Hecuba’s a woman whose life is over ’cause her children are killed. There’s a pattern there, right? One destroys everything, and the other endures everything. It’s got rhythm, and you were spot on to pick Numa for the role. But think of Jason and Cassandra. What’s their link?” I put my arm around Paches. “Jason is the ultimate philanderer. Right? His faithlessness is the cause of all the ruin. If he just kept his promise to Medea, they’d be grand, but he can’t do that. He needs a bright young thing to sink his chops into, and ’cause of that, it all burns, and here we have Cassandra.” I tighten my grip on Paches. “Agamemnon’s going back home, and just like Jason, he’s won. Though his prize isn’t some fucking fleece but Troy itself. He could be sitting pretty in Argos, drinking wines of the best, his wife cooing in his ear, but he has to have the bright young thing, and his wife won’t stand for that. She cuts him up, and that sets the blood feud in place. ’Cause after he’s dead, the children kill their mother in revenge. Do you not see it, man? They’re broken mirrors of one another. It’s perfect!”

I’m breathless now and pacing. Everyone is listening to me, their eyes fixed. Even the children seem keen, and they look over at Gelon, eager to hear his response.

“There’s something to what you say, but it’s not that simple. Clytemnestra hates Agamemnon anyway. He sacrificed their daughter just to change the winds.

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