This book presents two plays by very talented Italian women writers, which have been translated by Loredana Merenda, a graduate from the Master's in the Translation Studies Program at Glendon College, York University.
 
The idea behind this publication is to give a clear view to modern-day readers and theatre goers of how Ancient Greek Literature could inspire modern writers and playwrights. We see that the two plays published here share many themes while keeping their own specificities, both in structure and in style.
 
Both playwrights, Maria Teresa Di Clemente and Valeria Parrella are currently very engaged in writing, but Di Clemente is especially wellknown as an actress. It is therefore no surprise that she has chosen to write mostly for the theatre. Parrella, on the other hand, has written in a variety of genres.
 
Di Clemente not only wrote and directed the play which is presented here, Two Foreign Women, but also performed in it. The play, which in its original language was first presented in Teatro Due Roma in 2009, was staged in English in Toronto in 2012 during the Festival of Images and Words. This was a very important step since translating for the theatre has to take into account the oral quality of the text. As mentioned earlier, rhythm is very important in theatre and the text has to flow easily and naturally to be able to convey the message to the audience.
 
Valeria Parrella started her literary career in 2003 with a collection of short stories, Mosca più balena, which earned her the Premio Campiello Opera Prima award . Several publications followed, and several recognitions as well. Il Verdetto, the Italian version of the play presented here, was published in 2007.