LIFT: Trojan Women

Filling the Queen Elizabeth Hall stage with 25 singers, actors and musicians, visionary Singaporean director Ong Keng Sen fuses modern music and pansori, the ancient Korean genre of musical storytelling, in this world-class contemporary opera.

Trojan Women took Seoul by storm when it premiered in 2016 and has since enjoyed a sell-out run at the Singapore International Festival of Arts last year, its London performance is the first time the National Changgeuk Company of Korea, a leading resident company of the National Theatre of Korea, have performed in the UK.

Composed by a producer at the forefront of the K-pop scene, Jung Jae-il, in collaboration with the renowned Pansori master Ahn Sook-sun, Trojan Women brings both the ancient and modern art forms together to breath new life into Euripides’ tragedy.

Troy may be defeated but never forgotten, its women endure as survivors amid the aftermath of a 10-year war with the Greeks. Drawing parallels between the trauma faced by the Trojan women and the pain of Korean women who have lived through war and division, the epic performance celebrates the importance of female solidarity in the face of adversity, through powerful music and movement.