{"id":24635,"date":"2019-09-23T06:00:52","date_gmt":"2019-09-22T20:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/?p=24635"},"modified":"2019-09-17T17:47:53","modified_gmt":"2019-09-17T07:47:53","slug":"a-modern-take-on-an-ancient-drama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/a-modern-take-on-an-ancient-drama\/","title":{"rendered":"A modern take on an ancient drama"},"content":{"rendered":"

MEDEA, a powerful, highly intelligent feminist, is an immigrant living in her husband Jason\u2019s country with their two young sons.<\/p>\n

She sacrificed more than enough for him so when she discovers he is having an affair she decides vengeance will be hers.<\/p>\n

Theatre director, Megan J Riedl\u2019s modern interpretation of the ancient Greek classic Medea<\/em> for Ballarat National Theatre\u2019s upcoming season explores the dangers a patriarchal view has on strong women and the negative impact of parental conflict on children.<\/p>\n

\u201cMedea is so jealous, infuriated and hurt by Jason\u2019s actions that she lets that anger take her away from normal behaviour,\u201d Riedl said.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe lets her rage eat up her heart, she let her emotions get the better of herself resulting in extreme consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Benjamin Marshall\u2019s Jason comforts Medea played by Rebecca O’Callaghan during rehearsals. Photo: CHIARA ANGELI<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Riedl, who came across the modern adaption by Tom Paulin of Euripides\u2019 Greek tragedy written in 431BC, said the text is new and sounds modern.<\/p>\n

She wanted to bring this new work, set in modern day, to Ballarat audiences because she can relate to it in a way.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been through a separation from a partner and children are involved and it is always a complex thing,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is interesting for me to explore this in theatre.\u201d<\/p>\n

While this Greek tragedy was written in past millennia the context of family conflict, ambition and social advancement, war and displacement and the battle of the sexes is still current.<\/p>\n

The production features performances from local actors Rebecca O’Callaghan as Medea and Benjamin Marshall playing Jason.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Medea will appeal to the audiences who come to hear and see the classics and like traditional theatre,\u201d Riedl said. \u201cBut as a modern touch to a classic it may also reach others more interested in contemporary theatre.<\/p>\n

\u201cRebecca, who works in the performance team at Sovereign Hill, has put a lot of hard work into the role and she will blow you away. Benjamin is professionally trained and brings a lot of experience to the role of Jason.\u201d<\/p>\n

Riedl explains the usual function of the chorus in Greek theatre is to analyse and comment on the play to the audience.<\/p>\n

Her interpretation has the Chorus, played by Tessa Marshall, Zerene Webster and Zara Wilson-Boyle as characters in the show, reacting and interacting with the each other and the other players on the stage.<\/p>\n

They become the mirror to societies attitudes in terms of modern-day breakups or even domestic violence.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe three women are on stage watching this couple argue acting like \u2018it\u2019s not our business, it\u2019s behind closed doors and we don\u2019t want to be involved\u2019,\u201d Reidl said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a society we tend to do that and what happens is instead of saying \u2018hey, can we help\u2019 the situation snowballs and ends up, in this case, with the worst-case scenario playing out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ballarat National Theatre presents Medea<\/em> at Ballarat Courthouse Theatre, 17 Lydiard Street South, Ballarat from Saturday, 28 September to Saturday, 5 October at 8pm with matinees on Sunday, 29 September and Saturday, 5 October at 2pm.<\/p>\n

Tickets $25 adults, $20 concession and $18 each for group booking of ten or more, are available at Her Majesty’s Theatre Box Office during business hours, or online at hermaj.com<\/strong><\/a>. For further information go to bnt.org.au<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MEDEA, a powerful, highly intelligent feminist, is an immigrant living in her husband Jason\u2019s country with their two young sons. She sacrificed more than enough for him so when she discovers he is having an affair she decides vengeance will be hers. Theatre director, Megan J Riedl\u2019s modern interpretation of the ancient Greek classic Medea […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":135,"featured_media":24636,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-24635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA modern take on an ancient drama - Ballarat Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/a-modern-take-on-an-ancient-drama\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A modern take on an ancient drama - Ballarat Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"MEDEA, a powerful, highly intelligent feminist, is an immigrant living in her husband Jason\u2019s country with their two young sons. She sacrificed more than enough for him so when she discovers he is having an affair she decides vengeance will be hers. 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