Stories of Old: The Last Days of Troy

Can history's oldest narrative be revived for a contemporary audience? The involvement of Simon Armitage and Lily Cole is sure to help, right? Nick Bagnall discusses his latest production, The Last Days of Troy

Feature by Alecia Marshall | 29 Apr 2014

Once upon a time, a mysterious, sightless poet – whom scholars believe was named Homer – embarked upon the composition of a vast, sprawling narrative, recorded entirely in dactylic hexameter. The tale was to be called Iliad: a narrative of gods and glory, of fate and wrath. Homer became the elusive founder of the epic poem and his Iliad a fundamental influence upon the arts and science of Western culture.

The Iliad has a lot to answer for: its hungry battle scenes prompted the locking of swords between Brad Pitt and Eric Bana in Wolfgang Petersen’s Troy; its beautiful command of language inspired Madeline Miller to write Orange prize-winner The Song of Achilles; and its riveting characters provide the substance for new play The Last Days of Troy. Charging on to the stage in the guise of a visceral retelling from Yorkshire-born poet, novelist and playwright Simon Armitage, Iliad continues to cement its position as a literary masterpiece.

Or so we may think.

“[Illiad] is a gorgeous read, but I have thrown it out of the room. It is just not helpful anymore. Simon has given me what I need. He is a genius writer.”

So are the words of theatre director Nick Bagnall.

The man behind The Globe’s innovative Henry VI trilogy, Bagnall knows a thing or two about epic narratives: “The plays that I gravitate towards are always incredibly challenging,” he says. “I like being on the floor with big epic things and The Last Days of Troy is no exception. It is quite a tricky one...”


“It couldn’t be more relevant to a contemporary audience” – Nick Bagnall


Tricky is an understatement. Spanning over 600 pages in most modern translations, with no fewer than 26 major characters, the Iliad is no easy text to grapple with, never mind condense into a mere two acts. “Simon has found a way of streamlining the narrative to make it really exciting and theatrical,” says Bagnall. “This is about dealing with the play; not the world around it. We could spend three weeks talking about one particular character in The Last Days of Troy because there is so much to be said. I’ve decided to leave all of that outside of the room and just deal with the beautiful words of the script.”

But Armitage’s dramatisation is much more than beautiful: it is resonant. Through The Last Days of Troy, he considers how we are locked in the same cycles of conflict and revenge, of East versus West, and the same mixture of pride, lies and self-deception that fed the Trojan War. “It couldn’t be more relevant to a contemporary audience,” Bagnall stresses. “It is a deeply political play. Look at Syria, Libya: these places are still experiencing conflict. There are still thousands of innocent lives being lost because we go to war, for what is essentially decisions that we are not party to. That is what this play is: the first recorded war – only this war rages on for ten years and it is all to do with a man stealing a woman.”

The woman in question is Lily Cole: international model and actress, with an estimated worth of £8.5 million.  Her wealth seems important to mention in the context of her character, Helen of Troy, deemed the most beautiful woman in the world and thus the possession of Menelaus, a king of Mycenaean Sparta. Despite the recent controversy surrounding the trend of big names in theatrical roles (upon this, Bagnall is quick to interject that Cole is treated the same as everybody else), Cole appears perfect for Homer’s femme fatale.

“What is so exciting about having Lily as Helen is what she brings with her naturally. She is an incredibly beautiful creature. In Homer’s Iliad, Helen is a walk-on part, we only hear of her. What Simon has done – which is really incredible actually – is make her a major player.”

Joined by 11 other major players, Cole will be premiering the play at Manchester’s Royal Exchange before it moves on to Shakespeare’s Globe at the beginning of June. Homer would be proud.

The Last Days of Troy runs from the 8 May-7 Jun at Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre before moving to Shakespeare's Globe, London

http://www.royalexchange.co.uk