15 Heroines

Two thousand years ago, the Roman poet Ovid gave voice to a group of inspirational women – queens, sorcerers, pioneers, poets and politicians – in a series of fictional letters called

TheHeroines. They were the women left in the wake of those swaggering heroes of classical mythology: Theseus, Hercules, Ulysses, Jason, Achilles…Now, drawing inspiration from Ovid, fifteen leading female and non-binary British playwrights dramatise the lives of these fifteen heroines in a series of new monologues for the twenty-first century.15 Heroines was commissioned by Jermyn Street Theatre, London, and first performed – online and in three parts – in November 2020, presented in partnership with Digital Theatre. This edition of all fifteen monologues is introduced by directors – Adjoa Andoh, Tom Littler and Cat Robey – and writer, broadcaster and classicist Natalie Haynes.The War tells the untold stories of the Trojan War: Oenone, Hermione, Laodamia, Briseis and Penelope, written by

Lettie Precious,

Sabrina Mahfouz,

Charlotte Jones,

Abi Zakarian and

Hannah Khalil.The Desert is about women going their own way: Deianaria, Canace, Hypermestra, Dido and Sappho, written by

April De Angelis,

Isley Lynn,

Chinonyerem Odimba,

Stella Duffy and

Lorna French.The Labyrinth is about the women who encountered Jason and Theseus: Ariadne, Phaedra, Phyllis, Hypsipyle and Medea, written by

Bryony Lavery,

Timberlake Wertenbaker,

Samantha Ellis,

Natalie Haynes and

Juliet Gilkes Romero.