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Medea

Citizens Theatre, Glasgow

3 stars


Mike Bartlett’s contemporary version of one of the most unforgiving tragedies of all time is a curious beast. On the one hand, this suburban English redux taps into tragically familiar stories of modern-day infanticide. On the other, there’s a glib gallows humour at play which becomes a form of self-protection, as Rachael Stirling strides through her red-brick des-res with the mono-maniacal fury of the original woman scorned.  

 

Stirling’s Medea is a flame-haired posh girl on a new build estate who saved upwardly mobile rough diamond Jason from drowning. Unable to deal  with Medea’s bolshie ways any longer, Jason has left her for a younger  and, as Jason admits, “nicer” model, while Medea is left with only her  traumatised little boy and impending homelessness to deal with.  

 

While no-one would blame Medea for what she does after being treated so  shabbily, her pair of busy-body gal pals and a tongue-tied brickie  looking on imploringly are only likely to make her madder. Especially  when sound-tracked by a swell of strings so sweeping as to more  resemble something out of the 39 Steps.  

 

Such imbalances may jar, but they also illustrate just how out of whack  Medea is in Bartlett’s own production for Headlong in association with  the Citizens and Watford Palace. Stirling is a force of nature as she  spars with Adam Levy’s Jason. It’s the other characters who remain  indifferent. Medea and Jason may tear lust-driven emotional chunks out  of each other, but there’s a sense that everyone else onstage is too  disconnected to care in a TV style reworking which only serves to make  Stirling’s Medea appear more powerful than ever.  

 

The Herald, October 4th2012 

 

ends

 

 

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