The Myth of Medea: beware a woman scorned

The Myth of Medea at the Old Fire Station

25 – 28 June

By Jon Lewis

Director and writer Nick Thomas first staged Medea in 2004. Now he’s added a companion piece, Medos, with both plays performed in one sitting at the Old Fire Station. Thomas’ version of Euripides’ classic follows Medea over one fateful day in the Greek city of Corinth.

Ostracised for being a foreigner and a witch with magical powers, Medea (a powerful performance by Hetty Bentley) plots, and carries out, a terrifying revenge against her heroic husband Jason (Nathan Golo). With the connivance of Corinth’s ageing leader Creon (Michael Curran), Jason has convinced himself that the future of his and Medea’s two sons would be more assured if he married Creon’s daughter Glauce (an unseen presence in the drama).

Medea’s wrath leads her to fake acceptance of this marriage. She laces a beautiful dress with poison that her sons will give Glauce as a wedding present. She will then kill her children. Jason will be left with nothing in his life but regrets. A passing stranger, a one-man chorus (Colin Macnee) attempts to be the voice of reason but fails to derail Medea’s murderous plan. The killings happen off-stage so the horror is conveyed by the blood on Medea’s royal dress and the witness story of the Nurse (Ania Marie Ward). Medea then escapes Corinth for the safe haven of Athens and its friendly king Aegeus (John Casey).

Thomas’ sequel, Medos, is his reinvention of what happens next to Medea in Athens. Medea’s earlier hatred of Jason’s infidelity sees her ironically mutated into the role of mistress. A decade or so has passed and Medea has a third son, Medos (Jonas Robinson) with Aegeus, whose barren wife Chalciope (Lizzie McHale) is caught between promoting Medos as Aegeus’ heir and supporting Theseus (Golo, doubling) as a pretender to the throne.

Medea is cast this time as her son’s defender, even running into the sword that is about to slaughter Medos. In both plays, Bentley magnificently conveys Medea’s haughty pride and superior intelligence, but she is also glamorous and exotic suggesting the strong allure she has for multiple Greek rulers. An engrossing double act.