Reviewed by Regina Su
Showing
from October the 11th until the 25th of November at the Belvoir is a modern adaptation of the ancient Greek play
by Euripides; Medea. With fantastic
acting, this performance captivated audiences on a rollercoaster of tension,
humour and family angst. The story of Medea sees her unstable marriage with
husband Jason (of the story Jason and the Argonauts) and to spite him and watch
him suffer, she resorts to killing his mistress and his children. This legend
of a mother’s angst and her actions when she is at wit’s end are interestingly
not the focus of this performance. Medea
instead focuses on the children, before they are victims of the family politics
and the playwright’s ability of capture the antics of little boys is possibly
unrivalled. Their boisterous attitudes and childlike insight are not only a
product of the skilful script, but also the extreme maturity of the actors.
Absolute commendation to the actors. Blazey’s performance of Medea herself is
superb, she commands the attention of the room in a matter of minutes, by
stringing out the tension through well-placed silences and posture, it’s so
very powerful. The lighting, use of darkness, glow in the dark stars and the
set design were very well thought out and believable; these characters may have
even been lifted straight out of our own lives. On a niggling reservation, I
felt that I needed more of a back story, more of an understanding of why Medea
resorted to such a ‘brain-snap’ to kill her children. Without prior knowledge
of the Greek play I feel as though sympathy for Medea was difficult to generate
as we didn’t comprehend why she hated her husband so much. That said however, they
play was focused on the children and the children were convincing and their
deaths very powerful.
