Queens of Syria (the documentary) tells the story of fifty women from Syria, all forced into exile in Jordan,who came together in Autumn 2013 to create and perform their own version of the Trojan Women, Euripides’ timeless Ancient Greek tragedy about the plight of women in war. Not one of them had ever acted before.
What followed was an extraordinary moment of cross-cultural contact across millennia, in which women born in 20th century Syria found a blazingly vivid mirror of their own experiences in the stories of a queen, princesses and ordinary women like them, uprooted, enslaved,and bereaved by the Trojan War.
It was a process charged with emotion and fraught with challenges, as long buried issues came to the surface, and at times the project itself hung in the balance.
Yasmin Fedda’s subtly crafted and beautifully shot film explores the difficult choices the women have to make about appearing on stage, and the close relationships they form within the group as they explore with each other their experiences. It shows their bravery and determination that their stories should be told to the world.
The original production was invited to go on tour in the US and Switzerland, courtesy of Georgetown University in Washington DC, and Columbia University in New York, but sadly the casts visas were denied, so the tour was 'virtual' since unfortunately our original cast were unable to travel to the US as their visas were rejected. Listen here to the story on NPR. After we showed the trailer and some short clips from the documentary footage from 'Queens Of Syria', The inspirational cast of The Trojan Women received a standing ovation from a visibly moved Georgetown audience.Under the expert moderation and translation of Syrian broadcaster Honey Al Sayed, the cast, director and audience were able to have a discussion about the project, sharing experiences of participating in and of watching some of the performance. Despite thousands of miles and visa denials, the team at Georgetown enabled our cast to tell their stories and ask their questions, and gave the Washington audience a flavour of what (we hope!) is to come if visas are granted and a live performance is made possible.
You can discover more about the event in a report by Peter Marks in the Washington Post and also in a Foreign Policy article by Ambassador Cynthia Schneider, co-founder of the Georgetown Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics.
Geneva
The Talberg Institute also hosted nine of the cast members to mount an abridged version of The Trojan Women at CERN in Switzerland.
The original production was invited to go on tour in the US and Switzerland, courtesy of Georgetown University in Washington DC, and Columbia University in New York, but sadly the casts visas were denied, so the tour was 'virtual' since unfortunately our original cast were unable to travel to the US as their visas were rejected. Listen here to the story on NPR. After we showed the trailer and some short clips from the documentary footage from 'Queens Of Syria', The inspirational cast of The Trojan Women received a standing ovation from a visibly moved Georgetown audience.Under the expert moderation and translation of Syrian broadcaster Honey Al Sayed, the cast, director and audience were able to have a discussion about the project, sharing experiences of participating in and of watching some of the performance. Despite thousands of miles and visa denials, the team at Georgetown enabled our cast to tell their stories and ask their questions, and gave the Washington audience a flavour of what (we hope!) is to come if visas are granted and a live performance is made possible.
You can discover more about the event in a report by Peter Marks in the Washington Post and also in a Foreign Policy article by Ambassador Cynthia Schneider, co-founder of the Georgetown Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics.
Geneva
The Talberg Institute also hosted nine of the cast members to mount an abridged version of The Trojan Women at CERN in Switzerland.
The original production was invited to go on tour in the US and Switzerland, courtesy of Georgetown University in Washington DC, and Columbia University in New York, but sadly the casts visas were denied, so the tour was 'virtual' since unfortunately our original cast were unable to travel to the US as their visas were rejected. Listen here to the story on NPR. After we showed the trailer and some short clips from the documentary footage from 'Queens Of Syria', The inspirational cast of The Trojan Women received a standing ovation from a visibly moved Georgetown audience.Under the expert moderation and translation of Syrian broadcaster Honey Al Sayed, the cast, director and audience were able to have a discussion about the project, sharing experiences of participating in and of watching some of the performance. Despite thousands of miles and visa denials, the team at Georgetown enabled our cast to tell their stories and ask their questions, and gave the Washington audience a flavour of what (we hope!) is to come if visas are granted and a live performance is made possible.
You can discover more about the event in a report by Peter Marks in the Washington Post and also in a Foreign Policy article by Ambassador Cynthia Schneider, co-founder of the Georgetown Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics.
Geneva
The Talberg Institute also hosted nine of the cast members to mount an abridged version of The Trojan Women at CERN in Switzerland.
In 2013 Refuge Productions in partnership with Oxfam mounted a new production of Euripides’ great anti war tragedy the Trojan Women in Jordan with a cast of Syrian refugee women displaced by the war in Syria. The production was intended both as a psycho-social support measure for the participants, and as an advocacy tool to highlight the plight of Syrian refugees. The women who participated arrived at the workshops in varying states of suffering from depression, feelings of isolation and PTSD. Without claiming that the production cured these, the Syrian psychologist we employed to monitor the workshops and rehearsals confirmed that the process allowed the women to take back a great measure of self confidence and self respect, as well as finding a new support group through sharing each others’ stories and experiences. In 2013 the refugee crisis engulfing the region as a result of the civil war in Syria was very under-reported internationally. We correctly projected that showing this crisis in a different and dramatically surprising way would have a much wider impact in reporting terms, and as such the play was widely covered by regional and international press both in newsprint and on television.
Trojans UK 22 Playground Theatre K+C Festival August 2022
WHY AM I IN YOUR COUNTRY?
Why Am I In Your Country? launched through the Mail on Sunday on 11th February 2024 in You Magazine with an interview with Arwa and Jonathan about finding love in a homeless shelter.
LISTEN ON SPOTIFY
https://open.spotify.com/show/1piy1cl2w9pabFUW3lqJbr
LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/why-am-i-in-your-country/id1730013397
The latest project from the Trojan Women Project, a combined psycho-social support and drama project for refugees, Why Am In Your Country? allows refugees and asylum seekers to tell their stories directly to the host audience, in a powerful and compelling manner.
Each 30-minute episode features an intimate conversation with a refugee or asylum seeker. Hosted by Charlotte Eagar and William Stirling (with contributions from Luna Laurenti), participants share why they were forced to flee war, persecution or political oppression, the dangers of their journeys, and the realities of rebuilding life in the UK — including trauma, isolation, mental health challenges and integration struggles.
The podcast amplifies authentic voices from our drama workshops, (currently running at Hillview Community Centre in St Ninian's in Stirling and at Chelsea Theatre, London) turning personal testimonies into powerful storytelling that reaches global audiences. It challenges misconceptions, builds empathy between refugees and host communities, and highlights the human cost of conflict.
We currently have 19 episodes available to listen to on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Another 60 episodes are recorded and waiting to be edited.
To complete these 60 episodes to a professional standard — including high-quality editing, production, marketing and wider distribution — we need £38,000. That is £633 per episode
All foundational infrastructure — recording, interviewing, archiving — is already fully funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. We are seeking only the editorial and production phase required to publish and distribute the completed recordings. We have the team ready to deliver immediately:
• A professional podcast editor and former BBC radio journalist, who previously won an award for coverage of our Scottish project and ran PR for International Refugee Week in Scotland — ready to begin.
• A professional PR consultant, already engaged, to support national campaign and distribution.
• Hosted by Apple, Spotify, Acast, Substack and all the normal podcast platforms..
Refugees and migrants are key issues in the UK today. We hear daily on the news about asylum seekers coming to the UK illegally. Yet why are they here? What has driven them to leave their homes and risk their lives to start again in a strange country.
In Why Am I In Your Country? Each 30 minute episode will consist of a conversation with one refugee/migrant/asylum seeker about what has driven them to come here to the UK, and what they feel about living here.
The point of the podcast is to magnify the reach of our participants’ stories – podcasts can literally be heard all over the world.
The Syrian actress
The Afghan lawyer
The Syrian businessman
The Ukrainian poet
The Afghan artist
The Iranian lawyers
We have also received advice from various audio professionals, including a podcast producer at Times Radio, a presenter of BBC PM, the presenters of several successful podcasts, and a highly experienced Swiss Radio International journalist, all of whom are very enthusiastic about the project. The sound recordist is a refugee.
Our budget to edit 60 interviews into episodes, including editing, marketing, broadcast etc. is £38k. Anything towards the shortfall would be very gratefully received.
For any queries, please contact Charlotte Eagar