Creation of the piece from the source

When taking the character of Medea and making her my own I wanted to keep as much of the character as possible when going into the performance. The text itself and Medeus as a character came to be as I allowed myself to let go of her literal existence and looked at parallels that I could go towards as an artist.

Taking the mythology and the information I gained about Medea though-out the play I feel as if I narrowed the key points to her identity, both personally and contextually, that where important: where she was from, her godly and spiritual connection and her gender expression.

Informing of the character and world

Medea being a foreigner was something I found important and integral to her character. Medea is from Colchis, being in modern day Georgia. For the Greeks, specifically Athens, non-Greek societies were looked upon as primitive. They saw themselves as free in democracies, while the non-Greek were slaves living at the mercy of arbitrary despots.

The way the barbarian identity came to in this is not directly present in the piece but informs the grander backdrop of the story. If the Greek countries are the “civilized” and by extent urban then to contrast the non-Greek countries are the wilder, less populated or rural areas. Turning the Greek states in this new world into capitals and cities with influence and letting the non-Greek be rural areas, farmland and small towns disconnected form the cultural power. In my mind the rural town is talking a shape like Beaumont from Footloose. Applying these to the new story Medeus, like Medea, comes from a rural area, with one ideological symbol controlling more of the power.

The Greek states became different parts of New York, Corinth and Athens each representing different gangs holding main control over their own respective Boroughs, the Corinthians having main control over the Bronx and the Athenians being in control over Manhattan.

Where she is from

Medea being a witch and her connection to the godhood is an integral part of her character. Her father is son of the sun, making her the granddaughter to Helios. In differing sources, she is also the niece of the Circe. Not to forget a sorcerer and priestess under the Goddess of magic Hecate. To call her just magical or witchy might be an understatement after learning this. She was a known herbalist and was known for her potions and poisons.

In the text itself there are so many references to gods and her involvements with them. In many of the cases I think it’s okay to argue that they are common phrases used in the culture where she comes from, referring to Zeus, heaven and light when calling justice upon her wrongdoers. But she also makes a reference to queen Artemis goddess of the moon, hunt and virgins.

In a modern context when the entire world believes this system, I allowed these beliefs and the gods to exist in the new world. Allowing Medeus to keep his magic or how to remake the magic was an interesting journey as I was originally opposed to him having any magickal powers. As I transitioned from Greece to New York I tried leaving the mystics out of their lives and to make it more grounded but only started feeling as if I lost a piece of the character, something binding and important. It wasn’t important to necessarily make a world where magic was abundant but to have Medeus have a connection leading him through his life.

Magic, myth and gods

Medea’s largest piece of othering in the original text is from her gender and her expression of who she is. I believe that the only reason why Medea gets labeled a villain the way she often is (looking at you Rick Riordan), is because she is a woman. They expected her to be a perfect wife, accepting her husband’s infidelity and leaving with no trouble, but the second she reacts with any emotions she is banished and trashed, creating the situation she is in.

In the turning to the new world, I wanted to use myself as a queer body as a catalyst, making Medeus a queer man. To heighten the terror of being a queer body I set the world in the 70s to allow the HIV and AIDS epidemic inform the character and the piece.

Allowing myself to be queer on stage was a difficult choice. I was very worried that when I worked with the sexuality and the gendered expression it would be labeled in a certain way. Having the points of the story be lost because all we saw was a queer body on stage is my biggest fear as a queer artist and I am afraid my fear got into the text shaping and shaving away the queerer parts of the story. Working with the piece in the future I want to make it more queer and actually complete and use the circumstances to their fullest extent.

The gender expression

“First: the country that you left is primitive, but now You live in Greece. You now know what Justice means, Enjoy the benefits of Law, not the rules of force”.

Jason

“A foreigner must take special care to conform to the state”

Medea

“you are clever, skilled in many evil arts”

Creon

“The direct way is the best, the one which I am most skilled: I’ll poison them.”

Medea

For by Queen Hecate, whom above all I worship and have chosen as my partner, lodged in the inmost corner of my home, I swear that none of them shall cause grief to me and not regret it.”

Medea

“You are of noble birth, descendent of the Sun God”

Medea