Medee by Jean Anouilh

 Medee by Jean Anouilh

 

Spoiler alert: I will not let you in on the intrigue- on the contrary. I disliked the play so much that I will write about anything, but the work in question. So there will be nothing on this Medee and much talk about other things. A spoiler alert is here to warn you that I disclose an ending or something, but I felt one is in order just the same.

Since I did not enjoy all that much the original Medee, I am not sure what I was expecting from a modern version.

Sometimes, there is a completely new perspective, indeed, so fresh that you do not even recognize the original material

Well, maybe you do. I don’t.

I went to see a modern adaptation of Richard III, which was centered on the 3^rd Reich and the Nazis. Interesting, but very different from what I had known.

Last night, on Romanian TV, there was a new vision of Hedda Gabler, which seemed to sin in a way that has become habit:

-          Shouting!!

From what I can gather, plenty of actors and directors feel that if there is loud, defeating sound on the stage, that equals deep emotions, modern view and success.

Not where I come from, and to take it further back in time, Diderot had a piece where he argued that a good actor is not the one who is “overwhelmed by emotion” – which may mean that he is not the shouting type.

A good actor is the one who takes a cerebral, thoughtful approach and delivers with detachment lines and moods that come across much more poignantly if the actor does not get kidnapped by the character.

Having said that, there are some modern interpretations that seem to reveal a whole new play, but in the good sense. It shows you what you have missed. A new way to look at events and personages.

The original Medee does not say much to me.

But staged and directed by Andrei Serban it overwhelmed me.

Something tedious became so engaging and overpowering, that even a guy who had not given much thought and appreciation was taken by the wave.

This is the kind of “new „that I like.

In that production, the public entered through a back door, something like the actors ‘entrance. There was a nude actress carried in something like a cart.

There was an ancient chorus and we walked along with the actors in the back corridors of the National Theater.

Mind boggling- it will stay with me forever.

The other interesting new look at a classic work was in The Goodbye Girl, where Richard Dreyfuss plays an actor who plays Richard III.

A weird, humpback with a funny and outlandish twist.

As you can see, if anyone has reached this far- I loved so much this new Medee that I could not help but think of anything except…this modern Medee.

But hey! You may love it.