The Laodamiad

by Chas LiBretto

When the Trojan War breaks out on Laodamia’s wedding day, she desperately tries to keep her new husband Iolaus safe with her, but inadvertently exposes him to a wider world of politics and power. A nightmarish prophecy ensures that the charismatic General Odysseus has him put at the front of the lines and when Iolaus is killed in combat, Laodamia becomes the war's first widow. How she bears with grief will echo...

When the Trojan War breaks out on Laodamia’s wedding day, she desperately tries to keep her new husband Iolaus safe with her, but inadvertently exposes him to a wider world of politics and power. A nightmarish prophecy ensures that the charismatic General Odysseus has him put at the front of the lines and when Iolaus is killed in combat, Laodamia becomes the war's first widow. How she bears with grief will echo through history and myth for millennia. Inspired by the handful of surviving lines from Euripides’ lost play "Protesilaos," "The Laodamiad" explores love, war, and loss.

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The Laodamiad

Recommended by

  • Cheryl Bear: The Laodamiad by Chas LiBretto
    “

    An exquisite portrait of grief, the desperate call for peace and the memories one has to grapple with in the face of so much. Excellent.

    An exquisite portrait of grief, the desperate call for peace and the memories one has to grapple with in the face of so much. Excellent.

    ”
  • A.J. Ditty: The Laodamiad by Chas LiBretto
    “

    A hauntingly moving meditation on the tenacity of grief, "The Laodamiad" is a delicate, whip-smart journey into the depths of despair and, somehow improbably, a remarkable treatise on the power of hope. LiBretto has the uncanny ability to make the ancient seem relevant, urgent, and achingly human. Euripides' version might be lost to history, but, thanks to this thrilling, poetic adaptation, we have the privilege of journeying with Laodamia from the shores of Iolcus to the depths of hell in search not only of her lost husband, but, for some semblance of peace. Highly recommended, 10/10, would...

    A hauntingly moving meditation on the tenacity of grief, "The Laodamiad" is a delicate, whip-smart journey into the depths of despair and, somehow improbably, a remarkable treatise on the power of hope. LiBretto has the uncanny ability to make the ancient seem relevant, urgent, and achingly human. Euripides' version might be lost to history, but, thanks to this thrilling, poetic adaptation, we have the privilege of journeying with Laodamia from the shores of Iolcus to the depths of hell in search not only of her lost husband, but, for some semblance of peace. Highly recommended, 10/10, would violently sob again.

    read more
    ”

Development History

  • Reading, Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies, 2021
  • Workshop, Getty Villa, 2017
  • Workshop, Roundabout Theatre Company, 2016

Production History

  • University, Columbia University / Signature Theatre, 2016

Awards

  • Columbia@Roundabout New Play Series
    Roundabout Theatre Company
    Winner
    2016