Medea

Holy Trinity Church provided a beautiful setting for this performance of Medea, which was well attended.  The church provided just the right atmosphere for this Greek tragedy, which had been cleverly and thoughtfully adapted by Graham Billing.

There was a simple set of a raised stage at the front and some seating around it for the principals between scenes.  This was a good way of cutting down on fussy entrances and exits and meant that the calm atmosphere of the piece was maintained.  There was some beautiful music used throughout the performance which really enhanced it and lighting was good, especially the red ‘fire’ towards the end.  The white costumes worked well but I also liked the very vibrant outfits of Medea and her children, to highlight them as foreigners.   

At the start of the performance the chorus, all dressed in white, had a strong entrance walking up the church aisle and onto the stage to deliver their opening lines.  It is always difficult to speak en masse and they were slow to start on occasions.  However once they got into the dialogue they settled into a nice pace and kept their concentration to enable them to all speak together.

There was a very dramatic opening from Gora, who began this myth by telling the story of Jason and the Golden fleece to his two children, who were represented by puppets.  The puppets were quirky, ingeniously made and very likeable, but I can’t help thinking that real children might have worked better.

Medea and Jason both gave very assured performances and handled the lengthy monologues well. Most of their dialogue was in front of the staging and, as the audience seating was flat, more use of the higher levels would have improved their visibility.

Cruesa was excellent.  She gave a very natural performance that was at all times believable.  She also had a very lovely singing voice. Creon had the right air of authority for the king and delivered his lines well.

Direction by Simon Blacksell was, on the whole, strong and there were some nice moments and a lovely calm atmosphere thanks to the simple staging, beautiful setting and music used.  The tragic end was handled sensitively so as not to be too traumatic or gory for the audience. It was a brave choice of play to tackle and the audience clearly appreciated the opportunity to see such an interesting and rare piece of theatre.  

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