The
2002 Oxford Greek Play
Medea
A
Review by Dr. Chris Emlyn-Jones
(For
other reviews of the
2002 Oxford Greek Play
Medea please see database no. 2625)
back
Performance reviewed
: 1st February, 2002.
The play was performed
in the ancient Greek original, with running English surtitles
conveniently placed on the proscenium arch of the theatre. Matching
the Greek, the direction in general aimed at a version of non-naturalistic
‘authenticity’, but one which never lapsed into antiquarianism;
the chief strength of this excellent production was the combination
of scholarly research and a 21st century perspective which rarely
lost sight of the need for direct communication with the audience.
A large, declamatory
and rhythmic speech style made full use of the pitch compass of
the actors’ speaking voices with a wide range of volume and
timbre; at the same time stylised gesture and body movement (a
debt to Ninagawa here?) effectively expressed emotion and underlined
relationships, often in a startling manner, eg. the central agon
which played out in quite explicit gesture and movement the reality
of the gender and family conflict between the passionate Medea
and a somewhat sluggish and ‘past-it’ Jason (wearing
the somewhat mangy-looking remains of the golden fleece). Vocal
special effects were sparing—and the more effective for that—electrifying
moments being the amplified offstage first shout of Medea and
the screams of the murdered children.
The acting space was
the conventional stage, but enlarged by using the audience gangways
as the parodoi, particularly effective for the entrance of the
Chorus from the back of the auditorium on both sides, ‘surrounding’
the spectators. The stage set was economical: slightly to the
right upstage a steep stairway up to a high ‘door’ to
the palace (a simple archway), and to the left a boat with red
sail, prominent particularly at the beginning and end of the play,
symbolising the myth of the Argo, the background against which
the events of the play take place; the boat effectively opens
the play, with its prow being used by the nurse for her initial
(sung) prologue in which she tells of the events leading up to
the current crisis.
Costume design was
correspondingly simple, with designs taken from ancient red-figure
vases: bright orange tunics/dresses. Medea changed effectively
(and traditionally—see Ninagawa again) into red halfway through
the play. The influence of vase-painting was again visible in
the black outlined musculature of the men, notably Jason. Lighting
was unfussy and Medea’s chariot, suspended from on high,
positively restrained, perhaps too much so—this was the one
point in the production when I felt more might have been done
to create a climactic effect.
The Chorus, nine female
actors dressed, in contrast to the actors, in modern black, underlined
their role as interpretors/mediators of the action by starting
briefly in spoken English before reverting to sung Greek, also
using English for the ‘detachable’ final verses of the
play. Along with the Nurse they provided virtuoso solo and ensemble
singing of awkward vocal lines, with (to the modern western ear)
difficult intervals often at the extremes of the register, an
attempt at scholarly recreation; once again, however, authenticity
was not allowed to get in the way of communication with the spectator.
Some risks were taken:
the impotent king Aegeus, whose entrance presents a notorious
dramatic hiatus and directional problem, was strikingly played
as a fully comic part, with strong visual emphasis on the sexual
theme (with predictably loud audience laughter); this definitely
came off, in contrast to the small Paidogogos role, where laboured
humour and an improbably youthful appearance seemed at odds with
the rest of the production. Bathos was also narrowly avoided in
the sudden partial collapse of the Argo’s mast in the closing
moments of the play (an unnecessary underlining of accompanying
words about Jason’s already only too obvious fate).
Minor quibbles apart,
this was an outstanding production: well-paced, confidently performed
and visually and vocally excellent. The spare direction and restrained
sets gave extra point to the drama and allowed room for subtle
characterisation and interplay. A combination of scholarly research
effectively realised and engagement with the present made this
a memorable Medea for the early 21st century.
back
to Reviews List
|
Classical Receptions in Drama and Poetry in English