The play opens with an oracle, Medea's maid servant. Informing you what has happened, what she forsees, that humiliation and betrayal has taken place between Medea and her husband Jason. Jason is about to marry the young daughter of King Creon. After all Medea has done for Jason, left her homeland and murdered her own brother just to be with him. The King wants her gone, she's an embarrassment, a thorn that needs to either agree to be happy with the new marriage or leave.
Jason encourages Medea to leave with his children, even offers to give her money to live on. Worse still he attempts to convince her he is acting in good faith, he's doing all this for the future benefit of her and their children. Medea is incensed, brought to a furious rage with him. For her the die has now been cast, Jason needs to be punished. To destroy his world as he has done her's.
This production of Medea uses a version written by Ben Power. Its from 2014 and the staging is a very strange concoction. A split back stage, a curtained off woodland at the bottom, and the wedding party world of King Creon on the mezzanine above. All of it framed by a seedy 1950's interior straight out of The Shining. I didn't quite see what this period setting brought to the production, it felt an arbitrary and unrooted styling. Unless it is a sly homage to Stephen King.
What makes this play still more gripping is Helen McCrory's performance, who is a blistering presence on the stage. She has a scream and a fury that would curdle milk. Not many actors possess a cry of such authenticy, but Helen McCrory's is heart wrenching. She does it also without losing hert great subtlety of expression and emotional tenderness. The tendency with this particular piece of Greek tragedy, is that it can easily turn into the theatrical version of a shlock horror like Carrie. Thankfully not here.
Medea is some sort of a witch, she has powers and poisons. And though she weeps at the thought of killing her children, if that is the only thing she can do to make Jason feel what she now feels. So be it. For the gods know she has been wronged, they will help her. The result is spellbinding, a gut wrenching blood curdling denouement. McCrory's emotional restraint, makes her explosions of unhinged rage all the more impactful. She enables you to identify with why Medea feels she must do this. Worth seeing just for this performance alone, what a loss to the stage her recent death was.
CARROT REVIEW - 7/8
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