Acting Greek Tragedy

Recording 6 - Medea, from Euripides’ Medea – Kate Rayner.

In Euripides’ tragedy, Medea, a princess from non-Greek Colchis, has come to Greece with Jason, but has been deserted by him in the city of Corinth in favour of a marriage with king Creon’s daughter. The king wants to banish her immediately, but she gains a postponement of just one day. Medea is distressed and enraged, and she plots to kill the king’s daughter by sending her a poisoned diadem and marriage dress. She has sent these items by means of her two young sons, guided by an Old Slave; but they return with an offer of a reprieve, a possibility that tortures her.
In this presentation, the actor performs alone, with imagined children, who are treated by both parents - Medea and Jason - as properties at their disposal.

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