Tiago Rodrigues: Hecuba, not Hecuba (Hécube, pas Hécube)

The setting is the dress rehearsal for Euripides's play. It is also the day of Nádia’s testimony in court, along with other mothers, in a case she has brought against the State regarding the abuse of her son and other children. In a single day, we witness a Greek tragedy in its dress rehearsal. However, it is increasingly difficult for Nádia to play the role of Hecuba, as she is confusing Euripides' words with those she has to say in court. Rehearsing the role of Hecuba, Nádia realises that she is rehearsing her own testimony. The rehearsal period of the play overlaps ambiguously with that of a judicial investigation. Euripides’s characters start encroaching on Nádia’s daily life. Agamemnon, whom Hecuba stands up to in a plead to grant her the right to avenge herself on Polymestor, becomes the judge, and Nádia presents her case, pleading to be allowed to punish those responsible for the mistreatment of her son. The silence of the politicians, who have tried to sweep the public scandal and the legal battle under the carpet, merges with the dilemma of Ulysses, who owed Hecuba friendship and assistance, but was forced to have a hand in her tragedy under martial law...

Except for the actress playing Nádia as Hecuba, each actor plays at least two characters: one in the context of the rehearsal of Euripides's play and the other in the context of the judicial investigation into the abuse of Nádia's son. The chorus, composed of the entire cast (except for the actress playing Nádia), plays the role of the narrator, witnessing the two intertwined worlds while offering a glimpse into the universal tensions that blur the boundaries between these two realities.

Tiago Rodrigues (1977, Lisbon) is a Portuguese theatre director, playwright and actor. He graduated in theatre directing from the Lisbon Theatre and Film School (ESTC). Rodrigues gained renown for his directorial technique that blends elements of classical and contemporary drama, deliberately subverting and transcending the established boundaries of theatrical conventions. He is a co-founder and artistic director of the theatre company Mundo Perfeito. From 2015 to 2018 he was the artistic director of Teatro Nacional D. Maria II in Lisbon. 

The crucial factor in his creative development was the 1997 collaboration with the Belgian group tgSTAN, known for establishing specific relationships based on the absence of hierarchy. During his years with the group, Rodrigues developed his acting skills, began actively pursuing playwriting and evolved the principles of collective theatre. He began writing scripts, essays, poems, also devoting himself to directing. In 2003, Rodrigues and Magda Bizarro founded Mundo Perfeito, a troupe without a permanent base, with which he toured extensively in Portugal and Europe. Whether combining documentary stories with fiction, or drama classics with contemporary literature, Tiago Rodrigues' theatre is deeply rooted in the idea of writing for and with actors, seeking to poetically transform reality using theatrical tools.

In 2021, Rodrigues was appointed Artistic Director of the Festival d'Avignon. His four-year term began in 2022.