Told and tweaked for millennia, the story of the Trojan War is playwright Tom Wright’s subject once again following his acclaimed 2008 adaptation, The Women of Troy.

He uses key moments in the city’s siege as a means of exploring timeless themes of war, including its futile destruction, and its layers of causation and justification. While almost entirely set in the classical past, Troy echoes through history to the conflicts of today.

It’s a complex, engrossing tale, elevated by impressive, sometimes astonishing design and theatricality in this world premiere Malthouse production directed by Ian Michael (whose CV includes Picnic at Hanging Rock, also written by Wright, who has a flair for adapting iconic texts).

Malthouse Theatre’s Troy: Photo © Pia Johnson

We meet numerous characters from Greek myth, including Hecuba, Queen of Troy, and her children, Hector and Cassandra. The invading Greeks include Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, the king and queen of Mycenae, their daughter Iphigenia, and the demi-god warrior Achilles.

In a clever move, we never see the face that...