Tuesday, September 30, 2014

A Woman Scorned

Saw NT Live's Medea this evening at the small Lunario theatre tucked behind the massive Auditorio Nacional. (Nice place, reminded me more of a jazz club with its tables and drinks). 
It was brilliant, very intense - even on film - and with an absolutely stellar performance by Helen McCrory. Of all the scary characters in Greek tragedies, Medea is surely the scariest. Having helped Jason get the golden fleece and born him two sons, she is abandoned by the cad for another woman. Her fury knows no bounds and she stalks the stage like a wild woman, dreaming up the most dreadful revenge. There are moments when you think she won't carry it out, that she will see reason, that a mother's love will prevail. But no, she poisons Jason's new bride on her wedding day, then knifes her own children. That showed him. (Good music by Goldfrapp, incidentally). 

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