The Trojan War Will Not Take Place

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The Trojan war will not take place (original title: La guerre de Troie n'aura pas lieu) is a play by French dramatist Jean Giraudoux, written in 1935.

Within the framework of the myth of the Trojan War, Giraudoux satirizes the political behaviour of the First World War and the lead-up to World War II.

La guerre de Troie n'aura pas lieu (earlier titles included Préface des Préfaces and Préface à l'Iliade), takes place the day before the beginning of the Trojan War inside the gates of Troy. It follows the doomed struggle of Hector (supported by the women of Troy) to avoid war with the Greeks. Hector's wife Andromache is pregnant and so he becomes more aware of the future and of the destruction that a war would bring about. It is he who leads the argument against war and tries to persuade his brother Paris to return Helen back to Greece. Giraudoux presents Helen not only as a beautiful woman, but as the epitome of destiny itself. She claims that she can see the future by seeing what is coloured in her mind, and she sees war. For Hector, Helen can only mean war and destruction. But for the other men, she epitomises beauty and glory: they are willing to fight a war in her name.

[edit] Productions

The first production of La guerre de Troie n'aura pas lieu was directed by Louis Jouvet, with whom Jean Giraudoux often worked, in 1935 at the Théâtre de l'Athénée. Jouvet also starred as Hector, and the role of Helen was played by Madeleine Ozeray.

[edit] Translations

La guerre de Troie n'aura pas lieu was translated into English by Christopher Fry in 1955 under the title Tiger at the Gates, a reference to a metaphor in the first scene that compares destiny to a tiger silently approaching. However, the translation is quite polite and a little archaic.

This translation was first presented in New York City by The Playwrights' Company in 1955, starring Michael Redgrave as Hector and Barbara Jefford.