But so are the emotions: of the characters and those evoked in us. The language was modern rather than that which Euripides penned. In a small theatre in Melbourne, Australia, you are not just taken into the National Theatre in London, but also to the heart of ancient Greece two and a half thousand years ago. Indeed, so powerful is this performance it transcends either form. I expected it to lose a little, with neither the rawness of the characters there in front of you (for surely had they stumbled over the words the film crew would have returned the next night) nor the advantage of locations that a film provides.
The British reviews declared it a “tragic force” (Michael Billington, The Guardian), and “thrilling and merciless…appalled and strangely elated…” (Charles Spence, The Telegraph).
When it turned up in Cinema Nova in Carlton, around the corner, it seemed to be a message I had just received the cover of my psychological thriller, Medea’s Curse, due out January 28 th, and though familiar with the story, had never seen a production. I had heard of live British theatre being filmed for audiences worldwide to enjoy but hadn’t given it much thought until an English friend said this production of Medea was not to be missed. Medea is reimagined in two versions: as a fierce and feared priestess in Madiya from pre-colonial Philippines, and as an interrupted young mother in Maida living in contemporary times.“ the curse of (our) children’s blood be on you” Jason to Medea (Philip Vellacott translation) Both wrote separate translations of the dialogues and monologues between the two principal characters in order to create two different interpretations of the same characters, and, ultimately, two alternating dimensions of the play, thereby departing from the traditional rehearsal experience of fitting two different actors into the same mold. In addition, two main actors alternated as each other’s Medea and Jason. In this adaptation, the modern English text of Medea was translated into the local language to reflect a Filipino, and in a way more familiar, context to the original core and premise of the Greek narrative. Si Medea was mounted as an exercise in translation and an experiment in alternating main actors.
0 kommentar(er)
