A tragedy waiting to happen
AFTER the success of their critically acclaimed production of Othello, starring Lenny Henry, Northern Broadsides are back on tour.
The Halifax company's production of Euripides' Greek tragedy Medea opened in Oxford last month and winds up in Salford in April.
In between, it will call at Coventry, Richmond, Liverpool, Halifax, Glasgow, Newcastle under Lyme and, this week, the Stephen Joseph Theatre.
Alone, betrayed by a husband she sacrificed everything for, Medea unleashes a horrific vengeance on her enemies, making both assassins and victims of her own children.
Featuring one of the most powerful female roles in the history of drama, Medea is an intense story fuelled by passion, hatred and deadly rage.
"Heroic yet deadly, sympathetic yet appalling, Medea's barbaric actions will stir your emotions as you find yourself irresistibly drawn into the nightmare world of this spectacularly vengeful woman," says a company spokesperson.
Northern Broadsides are celebrated at home and abroad for their highly charged performance style and charismatic actors. "Their vitality, directness and energy will ignite the dramatic voltage of Tom Paulin's gripping new version of this Greek tragedy," the spokesperson says.
Poet and critic Tom Paulin has published eight collections of poetry and two versions of Greek drama on stage – Riot Act (based on Sophocles) and Seize the Fire, a version of Aeschylus's Prometheus Bound. He is known for his appearances on the BBC's Newsnight Review and is the GM Young lecturer in English literature at Hertford College in Oxford.
Paulin said: "In 1984 I did a version of Antigone for Field Day in Derry - the theatre company founded by Brian Friel and Stephen Rea, with Seamus Heaney, Seamus Deane, David Hammong and myself as directors. I enjoyed it and the next year was commissioned by the Open University to do a version of Prometheus Bound for their arts and classical civilisation course.
"I didn't try any more classical adaptations until earlier this year I decided to have a go at Medea and since doing it I've done quite a few more classical tragedies, including Euripides' Electra which Thelma Holt is going to tour next year," said Paulin.
"I've tried to do my versions in a simple, spoke, terse style - I love writing dialogue and speech rhythm or what Robert Frost calls 'sentence sound' is essential for me when I write a poem."
Medea is directed by Northern Broadsides artistic director Barrie Rutter, with design by Emma Wee, lighting by Julie Washington and musical direction from Barbara Hockaday.
The cast is Nina Kristofferson as Medea, Kulvinder Ghir as Jason, Cleo Sylvestre as Nurse, Fine Time Fontayne as the tutor and Ageus, Barrie Rutter as Creon and Michelle Hardwick, Barbara Hockaday and Heather Phoenix as the chorus.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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