HECUBA: WHY AM I IN YOUR COUNTRY? Will Come to Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Arwa Omaren stars in the Offie-nominated solo show, directed by William Stirling at Gilded Balloon.
What happens when an ancient queen of war becomes a modern refugee at the UK border? In “Hecuba: Why Am I In Your Country?”, Palestinian Syrian actor Arwa Omaren combines Euripides' “The Trojan Women” with her own story of displacement in a raw, urgent solo performance that condenses 2,500 years of history into one voice.
Directed and co-written by award-winning filmmaker William Stirling, produced by Scottish founded Trojan Women Project, and recently nominated for an Offie (Off West End Award) – recognising the show's powerful fusion of classical text and contemporary testimony, as well as Omaren's extraordinary solo performance - this strikingly original production asks not only how we tell stories of exile, but who gets to tell them.
Performed at the renowned Gilded Balloon as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the show runs at The Turret at Teviot at 11:50am from 5-31 August 2026.
Arwa Omaren, a trained actor from Damascus, brings both classical know-how and lived experience to the role of Hecuba, the fallen Queen of Troy. A Palestinian Syrian who fled the Syrian war, Omaren performs the myth alongside her own testimony as a “double refugee” seeking asylum in Britain - dealing with the horrors of homelessness, sleeping on the streets in the UK - and the battle to be re-united with her beloved golden retriever, Jacko, the dog she had to leave behind when she fled Syria. The result is a really inventive, emotionally engaging piece that blurs the boundary between performer and subject, and myth and memory.
The production is led by the Trojan Women Project, an international initiative pairing and mentoring refugee performers with Greek tragedy as a means of processing displacement and reclaiming their narrative through their very own voices and expertise – they get to do what they know, including writing, acting and more. It has previously been presented at the Voila! Festival, where it drew attention for its intimate storytelling and political resonance. Developed in community drama workshops supported by the National Lottery Community Fund, it is supported by the Mackintosh Foundation.
At its core, “Hecuba: Why Am I In Your Country?” asks important questions about the language and systems surrounding refuge: borders, bureaucracy, hospitality, and exclusion.
At a time when conversations around migration and identity are increasingly polarised, this production offers a work that is both deeply personal and unmistakably universal.
The Gilded Balloon, one of the Fringe's longest-running and most respected venues, provides an ideal platform for bold, artist-driven work. Set within the historic Teviot complex, The Turret offers an intimate space that brings audiences into close proximity with Omaren's performance.
Trojan Women Project is currently welcoming sponsorship and partnership support to help bring this urgent and timely work to its audience and continue its work with refugees, and welcomes conversations with organisations aligned with its themes of displacement, cultural dialogue, and social impact.
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