Violence In Euripide's Medea

In 2014, the National Theater, a non-profit theater in London, United Kingdom produced a new adaptation of Euripides’s Medea ("Medea"). The production took place at the Olivier Theater and was also recorded for broadcast as part of the National Theater’s National Theater Live series. This production was directed by Carrie Cracknell and the set was designed by Tom Scutt, and the script for this new adaption was written by Ben Power ("Medea"). Medea was played by actress Helen McCrory and Jason was played by Danny Sapani. The story of Medea is still relevant and provocative to modern audiences as it forces audiences to relate to seemingly incomprehensible acts of violence and confront within themselves our own possibility for such acts. Design

This is evident in the Chorus’s reaction to Medea’s rage. The Chorus, who in Greek theater often times was meant to represent the voice of the community, both expresses dismay at Medea’s murder of her own children and expresses concern and acknowledgement of her pain throughout the play. Our sense of sympathy is further heightening through the set design. The set was designed as a two-story set. The bottom level was Medea’s playing space while the top level was used to stage Jason’s wedding. (Cracknell). It was construed with these two different playing spaces to allow both the process of Jason being remarried and Medea’s downward spiral into desperation to occur at the same time on stage (Cracknell) The juxtaposition between the two concurrently ongoing events, I believe, makes clearer to the audience Jason’s neglect and betrayal of Medea. For as she descends deeper into desperation, Jason uncaring, continues his plans. I believe this would help make the audience feel some understanding in Medea’s actions and thoughts. In addition to the story generally being relatable, several design decisions helped to make the story less foreign and ancient. These include updating the text to modern language and using modern dress, which allow the audience member to place the story in more contemporary times