MedeaNew translation by Andreas Apergis & Joseph Shragge
Directed by Alison Darcy & Andreas Apergis
Starring Andreas Apergis, George Bekiaris, Dusan Dukic, Diana Fajrajsl, France Rolland, Holly Gauthier-Frankel, Alex Ivanovici, Gitanjali Jain, Maurice Podbrey & Melissa Trottier
After being left by her husband, Medea has one day to enact one of the most gruesome acts of revenge in history.
Après avoir été abandonnée par son mari, Médée
a une seule journée pour planifier sa revanche,
une des plus horribles de l’histoire.
Medea is one of the most influential and accessible of the Greek tragedies. Its plot revolves around the emotional fallout that occurs when the hero Jason leaves his wife Medea for King Kreon’s daughter. Medea, after being exiled by the King, has one day to plot her revenge against Jason. That day is filled with dark machinations, political upheavals, and tragedy.
The production will be greatly inspired by Greece in the 1920s, after a population exchange between Greece and Turkey left the country with an influx of Turkish immigrants. The encounter between Greek and Turkish cultures produced Rembetika, a mournful music often compared to American blues. The chorus, singing in Rembetika style, will help highlight the play’s theme of displacement, as well as create a modern setting for this mythical and harrowing domestic drama.
Musical direction by David Oppenheim
Original composition by Brian Lipson
Set & Costume Design: Amy Keith
Lighting Design: David Perrault Ninacs
Adults $20 / Students, Seniors, Union &
QDF members $16 / Group rates
Thursday to Saturday at 8:30pm
Sunday at 7pm
Production Scapegoat Carnivale Theatre
Centaur Theatre
453, St-François-Xavier
Box office : 514-288-3161
review by Sara Fauteux
For their latest production, the Scapegoat Carnivale Theater presents Medea, Euripides classical tragedy. In the tradition of Greek tragedies, Euripides is known for portraying strong feminine figures. Medea might be the greatest and the most popular of them all. After her husband, Iason, leaves her for King Kreon’s daughter, Medea is left alone and abandoned on foreign territory with her two children. Condemned to exile, she has one day to organize her revenge from Iason, Kreon and his daughter.
Nobody really knows how Greek tragedies were played originally and how they were presented in ancient societies. For his Medea, the instigator of the project, Andreas Aspergis, chose to present a big multidisciplinary show in the tradition of musical productions. Along with Joseph Shragge, Aspergis undertook a new translation of the play and the composition of the lyrics. Aspergis also co-directed the production with Alison Darcy and plays the character of Iason.
Aspergis and Shragge explain that their translation sets the tragedy in the 1920’s, during a war that opposed Greece and Turkey. Oddly though, this transposition is not indicated to the spectator in any way and some elements of the production are therefore very mysterious and meaningless for the public. The music is the only element that allows us to guess the action is not taking place in 431 BC. The compositions of Brian Lipson are actually inspired by rembetika music, a style that appeared in Greece during that war and gained more popularity in the 70s.
This musical language based on the history of Greek people is certainly a very interesting track to revisit Euripides tragedy, as is the modern translation of the play, or the traditional dancing choreographies for the chorus. But it seems the production is dispersed in many interesting ideas, none of which is thoroughly explored. Indeed, the transposition of the action creates confusion because this idea is only half exploited. In the same way, the presence of musicians on stage becomes useless as they are hidden from the public and the energy of their instruments does not reach us.
Furthermore, the integration of this style of music does not serve the intense emotions the character of Medea is going through. The very soft and traditional sound of the music, along with slow dancing moves of the chorus keeps the dramatic rise of Medea’s tragedy from exploding. France Rolland in her interpretation of Medea is most certainly the strongest aspect of the production. Although the signs that are being spread around her are not always clear or relevant, her emotion and energy succeed to carry us away at the highest points of the play.