THE 1041C Theater Reviews

Overall, I enjoyed this production of Medea. I thought it was very well directed, and the editing was superb. Reading the actual play was decidedly tedious, so to be presented with a version that was streamlined and essentially more to the point was great. It made the overall experience much more enjoyable, as I do not believe the meaning of the play was diluted through the educated cuts made; it was simply made more exciting.

I appreciated the minimal costume design, as it took the play from being something antiquated and foreign to being completely relatable. The storyline could easily be applied to a modern situation, and the lack of period clothing made that connection much plainer to see. The props were also fittingly minimalistic. I must admit that when I first saw the mask-children, I thought it was a little silly, but when the live actors began to interact with and invest emotion in them, I was convinced enough to take them seriously. It was this kind of emotional investment that the actors placed in each character (their own and the others) that convinced me of the play, as a whole.

As far as the script-in-hand acting goes, I disagree with many of my classmates when I say that I think it was perfectly fine and not distracting. To me, the scripts almost disappeared during the performance, and when the actors became particularly connected with the emotions the words conveyed, the physical script became virtually invisible. When one of the actors dropped his script and lost his place, however, it did cause a break in the theatrics, which disturbed the flow of the fantasy playing out in front of us. Aside from this one discontinuity, it was a non-issue.

Of the performers, I was most impressed with the actress who played Medea, as I noticed that even when she was not speaking, she was still acting and reacting to what other characters were doing or saying. Her speaking parts were also very well punctuated with emotion and her tone of voice was a very good representation of the intended feeling of the script. Most importantly, she did not over-act, and even during the parts in which she was screaming, her acting remained honest and believable.