Medea

by Euripides, based upon the myth of Jason and Medea and first produced in 431 BC. The plot centers on the barbarian protagonist as she finds her position in the Greek world threatened, and the revenge she takes against her husband Jason who has betrayed her for another woman. Euripides produced Medea along with the lost plays Philoctetes, Dictys and the satyr play Theristai, winning the third prize (out of three) at the City Dionysia festival for that year.

Adaptations of the Medea text

Tom Lanoye (2001) used the story of Medea to bring up modern problems (such as migration and man vs. woman), resulting in a modernized version of Medea. His version also aims to analyze ideas such as the love that develops from the initial passion, problems in the marriage, and the "final hour" of the love between Jason and Medea.

Oscar van Woensel’s beautiful adaptation of the classical Greek myth is a fragmented stream of consciousness. Studded with pop songs and sitting on top of the ace drumming of Frank Paco, Bailey’s pop-ritualistic interpretation draws inspiration from Haiti where he spent several months working in 2004. • Designed and directed by Brett Bailey • Text by Oscar van Woensel in collaboration with Kuno Bakker • and Manja Topper • With Faniswa Yisa as Medea, James MaccGregor, Frank Paco, Mbali Kgosidintsi, Indalo Stofile, Namhla Tshuka and Apollo Ntshoko First done in South Africa as an open-air, site-specific piece in an old abondoned film studio at Spier in 2005, directed and staged by Brett Bailey (2005). . Reworked for stage production in Switserland and in South Africa (the Baxter Theatre, 2012)

2003: Wits University (Johannesburg)

2005: Spier Arts Summer Season (Cape Town) 
 
2012: Zurich Theater Spektakel, Theaterfestival Basel, Berliner Festspiele, and 7 Dutch cities including Amsterdam and Rotterdam

BY OSCAR VAN WOENSEL (DOOD PAARD) IN COLLABORATION WITH KUNO BAKKER AND MANJA TOPPER (1998) TEXT DIRECTOR: LARA BYE WITH FANISWA YISA as MEDEA http://www.thirdworldbunfight.co.za/productions/medeia.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medea_(play)

See Medea by Dieter Reible in Plays 2.

Medea by Euripides. *** , First production in South Africa by *** **** In 197* The Space (Cape Town) did Franz Grillparzer’s version of the text, adapted and directed by Barney Simon in his directorial debut at The Space, with Yvonne Bryceland, Charles Comyn, Wilson Dunster, Chris Galloway, Joel Maister, Michael Maister, Nomhle Nkonyeni and Jacqui Singer. Music by Mike Dickman, set by John Nankin and costumes by Zsuzsanna Kovacs and Danny Malan. The first Afrikaans version (by **) was done by the Afrikaans-Hollandse Toneelvereniging in Potchefstroom and Ermelo (1907), then in the Opera House, Pretoria, April, on 1908, to an invited audience including the colonial secretary, General J.C. Smuts. Backdrops painted by Frans Oerder. In 200* Marthinus Basson directed Mamma Medea, **’s version of the story, in an Afrikaans translation by **, for ArtsCape?*/**.

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