THIRD year students in the University of York department of theatre, film and television explore the themes of Antigone and Hekabe in a world similar to our own for a season of reimagined Greek theatre tonight until Saturday.

Sophocles and Euripides’s powerful stories transcend time as the students delve into what power, relationships, betrayal, law and order, men and women, mean to us today, when they take Anne Carson’s poetic translations to the department's epic Scenic Stage, at Campus East, University of York, Baird Lane, Heslington.

In Hekabe, in a transition from a house of kings to a day of slavery, the fight is on for the former Queen of Troy and her Trojan Women to survive. Male brutality dictates the way these women live their lives, but how much further will they be pushed before they seek revenge?

Co-directors Keira Macalister and Millie Jessup say: “In today’s current climate, Anne Carson’s translation of Hekabe has surprising significance. The text asks you to focus on the women in this world and we were happy to oblige!

“Our production focuses on women’s suffering and perhaps more significantly, the mens obliviousness towards it. Hekabe’s journey questions how far women can be pushed before they fight back. The world they exist in could easily divide them, yet instead it forms a stronger sense of unity and sisterhood.

"Co-directing has allowed us to work collaboratively and engage with the text on multiple levels. We're excited to hear what the audience take from our interpretation."

In Antigone, the next word is death. An act of love unfolds with earth-shattering consequences, where the world of man collides with the laws of the Gods. "Approaching Antigone, I wanted to explore with the actors the depth and complexity of all the actions in the play: to work on the basis of ‘acts of love’," says director Minna Davies.

"I see the chorus as the beating heart of the play that drives the key question key forward and force the other characters to confront it. For how long can they avoid the presence of fate?"

Hekabe will be performed tonight and on Saturday at 7.30pm; Antigone, tomorrow, 7.30pm, and Saturday, 2.30pm. Tickets cost £8, concessions £5, on the door or at ticketsolve.com/shows.