We Will Never Reach the Shore, adapted from Euripides' The Phoenician Women

by Tim J. Lord

The twin sons of Oedipus have come of age and are fighting each other for the control of Thebes. The exiled Polynices has returned home with 7 armies to back his claim, while Eteocles would rather see the city destroyed than hand over power. The twins' mother, Jocasta, and sister, Antigone, seek to intervene, forcing a parley, while their uncle, Creon, works behind the scenes to avert disaster--but only if that...

The twin sons of Oedipus have come of age and are fighting each other for the control of Thebes. The exiled Polynices has returned home with 7 armies to back his claim, while Eteocles would rather see the city destroyed than hand over power. The twins' mother, Jocasta, and sister, Antigone, seek to intervene, forcing a parley, while their uncle, Creon, works behind the scenes to avert disaster--but only if that work won't cost him personally. Thrust into the heart of this tinderbox is a group of Phoenecian women. Fleeing war and upheaval in their home country, they have come to Thebes seeking refuge among their distant relatives only to find themselves caught between the brother's indomitable wills and subsequently forced to choose a side. After only just repelling a first wave of attack on the city, the brothers agree to face each other in single combat. Jocasta tries one more time to force them to a peace, but she comes too late; the brothers kill each other and in her grief, Jocasta takes her own life. The Phoenecian women make one more appeal to Creon to be allowed to stay in Thebes, but Creon, his attention on repairing and rebuilding his own city, turns a deaf ear to their pleas and casts them out.

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We Will Never Reach the Shore, adapted from Euripides' The Phoenician Women

CHORUS, a chorus of refugee women from Phoenicia
JOCASTA, former queen of Thebes
ANTIGONE, her daughter
POLYNICES, twin son of Jocasta & Oedipus, exiled
ETEOCLES, twin son of Jocasta & Oedipus, ruler of Thebes
CREON, brother of Jocasta, the “Defender of Thebes”
MENOCEUS, his son
TERESIAS, a blind seer
OEDIPUS, son and husband of Oedipus, former ruler of Thebes
FIRST SOLDIER
SECOND SOLDIER
MESSENGER
HERALD OF THESEUS

CASTING NOTES
It’s possible, if you’ve got the resources, to cast this play with a huge company; however, I’m also interested in finding ways to craft this epic story on a more intimate scale. In particular, I think it would be interesting to cast 5-6 women to play the chorus and to have members of that chorus step out to portray the various characters in order to create the idea that the play is taking place after the fact and being performed by the refugee women thrust into the heart of the conflict. Another possibility that intrigues me is the idea of using the above 5-6 women idea but adding 2 male actors to play Polynices and Eteocles.

The company of actors should include at least one visually-impaired actor to play Tiresias and Oedipus. Additionally, the Thebans were noted warriors, so physical disabilities and post-traumatic stress would be common among them. To that end, actors with disabilities—both visible and invisible—should be considered for the rest of the company even if no disability is specfied in the text.

Development History

  • Reading, Queens Theatre in the Park, 2022
  • Workshop, The Lark/Apothetae, 2021