Day 1: Facts and QuestionsOnce we had discussed the timeframes for the play, the whole team sat around the table and read a line each. Each time anyone thought we could identify a concrete fact we would call it out, and collect the facts into separate lists entitled ‘Immediate Circumstances’ or ‘Long-term Back History’. This way we could collect very methodically exactly what is non-negotiable about the world of the play – gaining a stealthy picture of the environment, the society and the relationships – and also questions, which were collected into two further documents, ‘Immediate Circumstances Questions’ and ‘Long-term Back History Questions’: Facts about the Long-term Back History • The war began ten years ago • Cassandra is a princess • Hecuba is Queen • Odysseus is a Greek general • Troy is the capital of Wilusa • The Greek language is different from the Trojan language • Hecuba and Priam have 19 children • All the women are married and have children • Thessaly is in North Greece Immediate Circumstances Questions • How were the men and boys killed in the massacre? • Have the girl children been killed? • Why have the seven women not already gone? Is it an administrative error? Is the error to do with a numbering mistake? • How are they numbered? Is there something on their flesh or a physical tag? • Who arrived first? The women or Hecuba? Or Helen? What order did they arrive in? | 
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