The gods have punished the Greeks for fighting among themselves by abandoning Mount Olympus. Their divine authority has been seized by War, who has imprisoned Peace in a cave, and so the Greeks continue their incessant battles, their land is abandoned and their crops are destroyed. A desperate vine grower, Trygaeus, decides to fly to Olympus on the back of a beetle to rescue Peace, who will not only reconcile the enemies but will also regenerate nature.

Peace received second prize at the Great Dionysia festival of 421 BCE, just a few days before the signing of the Peace of Nicias, which brought hopes of an end to the Peloponnesian War. In producing the play, the director, cast and crew have been inspired by the fragile balance between war and peace, Heraclitus’ dictum “War is the father of all things”, and the thorny question of whether peace is linked with happiness and virtue.