A new play by Chris Cooper

Athens, 418 BC. A General proclaims to the assembly that their polis, built by the courage and virtue of its citizens, is the envy of all other states. In the market place a teacher exhorts his pupils to beware rhetoric.

On the quayside the victorious fleet returns laden with booty and their fallen heroes for burial. A child watches.

Athens, the greatest of City states and the home of democracy is at war with Sparta; a perpetual war of relentless brutality.

This full day theatre-in-education programme for KS3 and 4 students explored the difference between rhetoric and philosophy, training and teaching, and the relationship between freedom and knowledge in an era of perpetual war.

On tour between October 2004 - January 2005

You can download the first three scenes of the play from Resources.