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Medea: A Radical New Version from the Perspective of the Children
Two boys are playing a game.
They fight, they laugh,
they jump up and down, they play dead.
Downstairs, their parents – Medea and Jason – are arguing. As the shouting gets louder, their bedroom will no longer be able to protect them from the violence of the outside world. Their iconic fate, at the hands of their mother, will ensure that they enter mythology as two of the most tragic siblings of all time.
Medea is presented in association with Belvoir, Sydney and directed by Anne-Louise Sarks whose original production of the play was highly critically acclaimed. The production turns Euripides’ classic tale on its head – presenting the tragedy from
the children’s perspective.
They fight, they laugh,
they jump up and down, they play dead.
Downstairs, their parents – Medea and Jason – are arguing. As the shouting gets louder, their bedroom will no longer be able to protect them from the violence of the outside world. Their iconic fate, at the hands of their mother, will ensure that they enter mythology as two of the most tragic siblings of all time.
Medea is presented in association with Belvoir, Sydney and directed by Anne-Louise Sarks whose original production of the play was highly critically acclaimed. The production turns Euripides’ classic tale on its head – presenting the tragedy from
the children’s perspective.
- GenresPlays
96 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 2, 2015
17 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 13, 2024
I am literally shocked. My jaw is on the floor.
This was really beautiful and simultaneously harrowing. It's hard to sympathise with Medea's actions, but this-- this adaptation quite literally forces you to understand. As the audience, we are forced to acquaint ourselves with her children; to know their names, their idiosyncrasies, their little quirks that are both endearing and annoying. We get to know these kids for around 70 minutes, and we find that we have become attached to them. Now, take those 70 minutes and imagine knowing these kids your whole life. Imagine giving birth to them, raising them, and guiding them on the journey that is life. And then imagine what happens when someone wants to take them away from you. Mulvany's adaptation is brilliant because it forces you to reckon with even a sliver of Medea's feelings for her children; it forces you to understand her, and I think that's really quite powerful.
My only complaint is that the ending felt a little abrupt.
This was really beautiful and simultaneously harrowing. It's hard to sympathise with Medea's actions, but this-- this adaptation quite literally forces you to understand. As the audience, we are forced to acquaint ourselves with her children; to know their names, their idiosyncrasies, their little quirks that are both endearing and annoying. We get to know these kids for around 70 minutes, and we find that we have become attached to them. Now, take those 70 minutes and imagine knowing these kids your whole life. Imagine giving birth to them, raising them, and guiding them on the journey that is life. And then imagine what happens when someone wants to take them away from you. Mulvany's adaptation is brilliant because it forces you to reckon with even a sliver of Medea's feelings for her children; it forces you to understand her, and I think that's really quite powerful.
My only complaint is that the ending felt a little abrupt.
May 13, 2024
medea la mamá del año.
June 22, 2018
Medea is such a tough story. How can you possibly sympathise with a woman who murders her children? This version of the play excises the adults and focuses on the two boys, in an intensely harrowing story of family break-up and abused innocence. You won't be able to look away, but you'll wish you could.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews