Euripides's Trojan Women is given an African makeover is this version by Nigerian playwright Femi Osofisan. The sacked city of Troy gives way to the smoking ruins of the Nigerian city of Owu, previously a prosperous model city state that, in 1821, was destroyed after a seven-year siege by the combined armies of the Ijebu and Ife kingdoms.
Troy, Owu - it almost hardly matters, for what follows is an age-old lamentation of pain and rage by a small band of surviving women, led by their former queen, who have become the spoils of war. They have lost their fathers, husbands, brothers and sons and now they must face the humiliation of becoming their conquerors' slaves and concubines.
Chuck Mike's ensemble production has a grave simplicity and is steeped in the rituals of the Yoruba people. It is moving stuff, and has moments of great power such as when the women bare their breasts and curse those who will shortly violate them.
Even in Euripides's original this is a play that seldom makes the leap from telling to showing. The lack of real drama combined with the orgy of weeping words and wailing women makes for a strangely inert evening. Only in the second half, when the beautiful Iyunloye (Helen in Trojan Women) tries to avoid being stoned to death by seducing the husband whom she deserted, does the play start to fire on all cylinders. Her husband's confusion and the lack of sisterhood amongst the women, who see her as responsible for bringing on the destruction of their city and lives, is realised with a cunning humour. On the whole though, this is heartfelt but slightly dull.
· Ends on Saturday. Box office: 020 7582 7680. Then tours to Keswick, Chelmsford and Plymouth.
