Review of National Theatre Live: Medea (2014) by Sam Q — 27 Jun 2015

Medea was fantastic- an ingeniously manipulatively enthralling gem of tragedy. A glorious modern production of Euripides Tragedy, enlivened by the pure excellence of Helen McCrory- an actress of such skill that it was as if she had allowed Medea into her body, her entire self forgotten in the fury, vengeance, spiralling insanity and soul of Medea. Moreover (perhaps due to my inexperience in terms of theatre) I also found the manipulation of the set layout, incorporated throughout the play- it had been cleverly designed to allow the simultaneous occurrence of multiple scenes, which I felt was intelligently used for the purpose of achieving tension through juxtaposition; yet another factor I felt contributed to maximising the audience's emotive response. Lastly, the feature I most adored was the use of physical movement and dance- particularly that of which performed by the Chorus and during the dance of Jason and his new, young fiancee, the silent Glauce/ Creusa. I was enthralled by the way the chorus moved so erratically, almost nonsensically shaking and shuddering and thrashing themselves, coming to disturbingly eerie still, and mumbling, swirling and pooling around themselves like the hypnotic demons swelling, creeping and paralysing Medea's sanity and mind. Additionally, the dance between Jason (of the Argonauts, Medea's husband for whom she abandoned all else, murdering her own kin and birthing two young children into exile) and his new fiancee, Glauce/ Creusa (the Political marriage with whom he was abandoning Medea) Though glauce's character is indeed silent, I felt that this dance expressed her entire identity (in the eyes of Medea) perfectly and at a strikingly effective level. It was energetic, vibrant, young, alive; you could clearly identify her youth, her vigour and her sexual power alongside her maiden naivety and purity-the dance represented all that Medea imagine, all that she had raged jealously and despised and feared Jason and Glauce for. A picture of her better, younger, more beautiful replacement rubbed into her face and mind.

In short, Medea, by rewritten by Ben Power, was a diamond of a production.Though there is indeed a limitation in terms of audience (due to the sheer intensity and depth within it, alongside its number of more morbid and mature themes it features) It is definitely an experience I would recommend to others.