Cruel and Tender

Far away a battle rages and an entire city is turned to dust. Amelia can''t sleep. She waits for news of her husband. He''s a great general and this seems to be a decisive victory. But when the motives for the war start to look disturbingly personal, his wife becomes desperate to hold on to his love.

Martin Crimp''s new play takes Sophocles'' ancient story of marriage and violence - ''The Trachiniae'' - and propels it into a modern world of political hypocrisy and emotional terrorism.

Cruel and Tender was produced by Wiener Festwochen, Chichester Festival Theatre and the Young Vic, where it opened in London before premiering at the 2004 Vienna Festival.