|
Euripides challenges the heroic myth of Jason and the Golden
Fleece in this monumental tragedy, written in 431 BC at a time of civic
anxiety and patriotic fervor as Athens prepared for war. In Medea,
the playwright questions the value of warfare and retribution, and upends
conventional notions of gender in his portrayal of an exceptional woman
in search of a horrible revenge. Revenge is the relentless driving force
in Medea. According to director Russell Blackwood, “There
are few plays out there as obsessive about retribution as this play.
It’s a true melodrama without being dusty or antiquated.”
Medea, a princess of Colchis, a non-Greek region on the Black
Sea, fell in love with Jason and employed her destructive magic powers
to help him steal the Golden Fleece from her father. In the process,
she killed her only brother and instigated the murder of Pelias, who
had usurped Jason’s throne.
“Euripides bends the myth of Medea to suit his dramatic
purposes, much like Shakespeare does,” says Blackwood. “In
the myth of Jason’s bloody quest for the Golden Fleece, acts of
violence and passion are seen as heroic. But Euripides debunks the myth.
In this play, as in real life, murder is tragic, not heroic.” Euripides
imbues the character of Medea with an implacable will-to-power.
She thirsts for revenge upon Jason who, in his desire for power, betrays
her by marrying the daughter of the King of Corinth, Creon, who banishes
Medea and her children from Corinth.
“Medea has a tenacious will to get what she wants,”
Blackwell goes on. “Her single-minded determination was a characteristic
associated with heroic men, not women. Women, the ancient Greeks believed,
possessed wild and dangerous emotions. Medea embodies both these
traits, male and female, a deadly combination.” Famously murdering
the sons she bore Jason, Medea takes her bloody revenge and acquires
the power that was denied her at the start of the play.
Medea (Beth Donohue), Jason (Jason Frazier), Creon (Louis Landman)
and Nurse (Suzanne Voss) will perform on a large, raised circular stage
designed by Mellie Katakalos, herself second-generation Greek. Costumes,
by Keiko Shimosato, suggest the Art Nouveau style of Alphonse Mucha
whose poster of Sarah Bernhard as Medea has become an icon of
the role. Medea’s costumes and scenic design also refer
to a pre-Grecian culture, a period of matriarchal rule. These design
elements emphasize the “outsider” status of Medea,
who was not born in Greece, and her atypical role as an active force
in the play.
A score composed expressly for the show by Don Seaver will be performed
live by
the play’s Chorus of Corinthian women and by Paula Arciniega on
a pedal reed organ restored and donated by Jim Tyler, known as the “Reed
Organ Man” in San Francisco. The organ will be located on the stage
with Ms. Arciniega functioning as a character in the play and with the
music underscoring the psychological states of the characters as they
vie for control. In addition to the roles noted above, the cast includes
Patrick Sieler (Ageus); Ty Blair, (Tutor); John Curtis (Slave); and
Kenya Briggs, Bekka Fink and Nina Auslander as the Chorus. The design
team includes Heather Basarab, lighting.
This “free” adaptation by Robinson Jeffers was penned in
1947, placing the focus on the psychology of the characters as they
act out their obsessions. In this adaptation the size of the chorus
was reduced from 12 to three, and each of the chorus members has a personality
and point of view. The Jeffers interpretation was first performed in
London with Dame Judith Anderson as Medea and Sir John Gielgud
as Jason.
Director Russell Blackwood has been a producer and director for the
San Francisco Shakespeare Festival and Berkeley Opera; with his own
company, Thrillpeddlers, he produces the annual Shoctoberfest in San
Francisco. His credits include Women Behind Bars at Theatre Rhinoceros;
Mondo Andronicus at the San Francisco Fringe Festival (voted Best of
the Fringe) and Clive Barker’s Frankenstein in Love in its American
premiere in San Francisco.
Medea was to open at Shotgun Players’s new Allston Street
Theatre in the GAIA Building in downtown Berkeley, but construction
delays and permit problems foiled those plans. The company expects to
move into its new theatrical home in August 2002. Meanwhile, the dark
and cavernous space of the Greek Revival Style UC Theatre perfectly
suits the intense and richly imagined production of the world’s
greatest revenge story. The acoustics in the UC Theatre, originally
built for silent movies and vaudeville acts, are superb, ideal for the
organ music that will punctuate the theatrics of what the director calls
“a revenge potboiler.”
|
|
PUBLICITY
STILLS
PRODUCTION
INFORMATION
Directed by Russell Blackwood
Music Composition by Don Seaver
Organ Performances by Paula Arciniega
Set Design by Mellie Katakalos
Costume Design by Keiko Shimosato
Lighting Design by Heather Basarab
CAST
Medea: Beth Donohue
Jason: Jason Frazier
Creon: Louis Landman
Nurse: Suzanne Voss
Ageus: Michael Carreiro
Tutor: Ty Blair
Slave: John Curtis
Ageus (understudy):Reid Davis
Chorus:
Kenya Briggs, Bekka Fink and Nina Auslander
PREVIEWS
April 25 & 26 at 8 PM
OPENS
Saturday, April 27 at 8 PM
PRESS
OPENING
Monday,
April 29 at 8 PM
CONTINUES
Thursdays
- Saturdays at 8 PM
Sundays at 7 PM through June 1
CLOSES
Saturday, June 1 at 8 pm
PERFORMED
AT
The UC Theatre,
2036 University Avenue, Berkeley
Click here for a
map.
ADMISSION
Pay-What-You-Can Preview
Thursdays $10
Opening $25
General $18
Students, Seniors & TBA $12
|
