When Then is Now brings together Brendan Kennelly's modern versions of three Greek tragedies: Antigone by Sophocles and Euripides' Medea and The Trojan Women. All three plays dramatise timeless human dilemmas as relevant now as they were in ancient times. All focus on women whose lives are torn apart by war, family conflict and despotic regimes. In his preface, Brendan Kennelly describes how writing these three plays helped him enormously at difficult times in his own life. When Then is Now gives living testament of his belief that 'listening to ancient voices can help us confront, understand and express many problems of today'.