Former Queen of Troy, Hecuba is a prisoner of war, held by the Greeks and being transported back to Athens. As a result of the conflict she has lost nearly everything; her home, her husband and most of her children. As things seem to have hit the very bottom she finds that her son has been murdered and is asked to give up the life of her daughter.

Vanessa Redgrave returns to the RSC, after a break of forty years, in a play which celebrates the courage of a woman at the very brink of despair and examines how victors in conflict deal with the vanquished.