Constantina
We must not hold onto this life
In an unseemly desperation
Like a child clutching its nurse’s hand
Before its first day at school.
We must rehearse our deaths.
Each moment of life we must plan for the end,
Be packed and alert for the order to go,
Be prepared to depart at the drop of a hat…
Set in Rome in AD 65 as the Emperor Nero's megalomania reaches fever pitch, Constantina traces the experiences of four very different women as they are caught up in a moment of political madness and terror.
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In the summer of 2009 two rehearsed public readings took place at the Tron in Glasgow (Wed 3rd June) and at the Traverse in Edinburgh (Sat 6th June.) Stellar Quines Theatre Company plan a full-scale production in the near future. The cast was as follows:
CONSTANTINA: Geraldine Alexander
POPPAEA: Meg Fraser
JULIA: Lesley Hart
SLAVEGIRL: Molly Innes
The readings were directed by Zinnie Harris.