Director and Cast Re-Invent Ancient Story

Directing by the actors, walls between the audience and stage, and audience participation are all elements of the avant-garde, boundary-pushing EMU production of Medea, which opens tonight.

Medea is an adaptation of the Greek myth that tells the story of the jealousy and revenge of a woman betrayed by her husband. Medea, the main character, is a sorcerer and the wife of Jason (as in Jason and the Argonauts), and at the beginning of the play is outraged when she learns that her husband is taking a second wife. Fearing Medea's reaction, the Queen of Corinth (where the story takes place) exiles Medea and her children forever. Medea is so hurt by all of this that she wants to hurt her Jason too, and in just one day exacts her revenge upon her husband.

But what promises to make this production special is the process through which it came through in practices. Junior Matt Pearson, the official director of the play, says that unlike his first play in the fall, Laundry and Bourbon, where his word was final, his role in Medea has been more of a facilitator than a director. Rehearsals, which Pearson says "have been more like workshops," consist of collaboration and lots of discussion among the five-person ensemble of performers. Each night, the Pearson and the actors took a section of the text and shaped it into something truly original by combining everyone's opinion of what they think should happen in the scene. At the end of the night, the group has a final discussion on how their final creation fits together.

In addition to the actual acting, both the set and costume design followed this collaborative theme. Pearson says that the finalized set is "nothing like [he] imagined" but that he feels good about it and likes how it fits with the play. While the set is extremely simple and does not change throughout the play, it plays an important part in the play and is almost like another character. The idea for the set was built off of the idea of having walls between the audience and the stage, and the audience will primarily view the play through windows in these walls. As a result, Pearson says that the audience may not always be able to see the main action in the play, but will still be able to easily follow the plot.

Another interesting element of the play is the seating. It is possible to buy tickets for seats on the catwalk, and the actors will be in and out of the crowd and on the catwalk. In this way the audience will also become a fluid element in the play, and will interact with the actors. But don't worry, the play is not improv, so audience members will be given the choice to participate and will be told what to do.

While not quite as collaborative as the set, the costume design has been largely out of Pearson's hands, handled by designer Erica Yoder. Yoder jumped on board late as a result of the original designer backing out, but Pearson says that he gave Yoder some ideas but let her run with her own innovations for the final product.

Pearson is very excited about the play and cannot wait to see how it is received. Although the play was originally Greek, it is in a modern translation that is "easy to follow because of the modern language" but still maintains the poetry. Pearson admits that this specific production, as a result of the collaborative process, is very different and expects that "some people won't care for it, while others will love it." Interestingly, EMU professor Jay B. Landis directed this play back in the '70s, and his production even resulted in several letters of complaint!

Medea (starting tonight) will be running Thursday, Friday and Saturday of this week and next week at 7:30 pm. Tickets are available in the EMU box office, and students and faculty can get in free.