MEDEA

The Coronet Theatre

★★★★

“beautifully atmospheric”

Nine anonymous women slowly walk onto the stage, one by one, each with a sack cloth over their head and their headshot photo hanging around their neck. They move slowly, but precisely. In total silence. Some sort of symbolism is immediately established. A crone-like figure shuffles into position in the corner and watches. Suddenly a rabble of boisterous men burst onto the scene, dressed like judges in black gowns. We are in a restaurant. Or is it a brothel? The women are being picked out by the men as they remove their veils. We realise that they are being cast in an impromptu rendition of a play – Euripides’ “Medea”. It is an uncomfortable casting process. The women are mute and compliant while the men relish the prospect like shady, backstreet clients.

“Medea” is then played out in full as a play-within-a-play. Directed by Satoshi Miyagi, it is faithful to the original, two-thousand-year-old story. Without changing a word, however, Miyagi has ingeniously given it fresh meaning by placing it in late nineteenth century Japan. More specifically the Meiji period – often referred to as the Meiji Restoration. A period of rapid progress and modernisation but also a return to imperialism and colonialism. It was still a patriarchal society that reinforced male authority while stunting women’s rights and limiting their education. ‘The world despises intelligent women’ we are told. In this context, the brutal tale of a woman’s revenge takes on a shocking resonance, particularly during Miyagi’s climactic moments which acts as a cool but furious, and bloodstained epilogue to Euripides’ original conclusion.

The piece seems to run in slow motion, yet the pace never drags. We have the ‘speakers’ and the ‘movers’. The dominant males speak the roles in Japanese while surtitles are projected onto the back wall. Emotive and dramatic, their words belie the stillness of the performers. Interestingly, the translated captions contain far fewer words than are spoken, as though the essence is all we need and the actress’ skills in mime and movement are more than enough to tell the story. A bit of a problematic story in this day and age. Medea’s cold desire for revenge against her unfaithful husband, Jason, doesn’t sit well. Who is going to sympathise with a mother who murders her children to harm their father? In Miyagi’s version, Medea has only one son – but this doesn’t dampen the effect. It’s hard to further the feminist cause with such a parable, but Miyagi pulls focus away from Medea’s individual actions and we begin to perceive the injustices and humiliations that shaped her and her behaviour. Yes, it is a myth, but the historical setting gives an unfortunate authenticity that tries to explain the character’s intentions, but still cannot disguise the ugly truth.

The show is nevertheless beautifully atmospheric. Hiroko Tanakawa’s percussive score rises and dips in perfect time to the dialogue, played live by the women of the company, giving additional voice to their silenced emotions. Koji Osako’s lighting shifts from shadows to blood-red shrouds that evoke the moods and settings on Junpei Kiz’s simple set. A towering bookcase dominates – used to dramatic effect in the closing moments of the play.

The cultural comments that are being underlined are not always clear, particularly to a Western audience. It is definitely worth giving yourself a quick crash course on Japan’s Meiji Era. But even without, this is a thrilling rendition of the ancient Greek tragedy. The sixteen cast members give precisely orchestrated, yet fluid, performances. The surtitles are often unnecessary; such is the expertise of these performers in allowing the story to evolve visually and musically. It can be disturbing. It isn’t easy. But Miyagi’s interpretation is powerful, while also being rather beautiful to look at. A rare feat to accomplish.

MEDEA

The Coronet Theatre

Reviewed on 18th June 2025

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Takuma Uchida

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

EINKVAN | ★★★★★ | May 2025

PANDORA | ★★★★ | February 2025

STRANGER THAN THE MOON | ★★★ | December 2024

U-BU-SU-NA | ★★★★★ | November 2024

THE BELT | ★★★★★ | September 2024

THE BECKETT TRILOGY | ★★★★★ | June 2024

THE YELLOW WALLPAPER | ★★★ | September 2023

RHYTHM OF HUMAN | ★★★★★ | September 2023

LOVEFOOL | ★★★★ | May 2023

DANCE OF DEATH | ★★★★★ | March 2023

MEDEA

★★★

“a beautifully pared down version of this ancient play”

Euripides’ classic tragedy is best understood by modern audiences as a story about intergenerational jealousy between sisters and their offspring, and how it brings down the wrath of the gods on their disrespectful heads. The Bacchae is about so much more of course, including how a mother can be driven into such an ecstatic state by divine power that she unwittingly kills her own child. Originally produced in 405 BC in Athens, The Bacchae won first prize at the City Dionysia play festival, and has continued to be one of the most highly regarded Greek tragedies ever since, despite the difficulty of the subject matter. It is not just the beauty of the language that sets it apart, but unusual features such as bringing the god Dionysus on stage as a fully realised character and, indeed, as the protagonist. Esmond Road Productions, under the direction of Maria Makenna, and produced by Erica Martin, has revived this play and adapted it for an all-female/non-binary cast for the explicit purpose of offering more opportunities for actresses in traditionally all-male cast plays. So how well does that approach work for an ancient classic like The Bacchae?

The small and intimate space above the Bread and Roses pub in North Clapham actually works quite well for a play that was originally designed to be performed, in masks, outdoors, to an audience of up to 15,000 people. The ensemble cast of six do use attractive, neon-coloured masks (designed by Steve Wintercroft) when playing members of the Chorus, but sensibly discard them for the roles of the main characters. In a darkened space, with a minimal set, the cast provide everything else, from Euripides’ words spoken with clarity and understanding, to the singing of the Chorus. This is a production that is true to the spirit of Euripides, even if performed in a time where the Greeks gods have long since vanished. Even so, the pace of The Bacchae will still seem slow to modern audiences simply because of the long descriptive passages where one character explains to others what has occurred off stage. But this feature, paradoxically, allows director Makenna’s choice of giving all roles, male and female, to actresses, a workable one, because of the focus on the words. The actions of the performers are necessarily pared down in such a small performance space. The only moment in the drama where this works less well is when Dionysus’ cousin Pentheus, King of Thebes, is tricked into dressing as a woman in order to spy on his mother and aunts in their divinely inspired frenzy. Daniella Piper, who plays Pentheus, is already smartly dressed as a modern female executive, so this transformation lacks the dramatic revelation that Euripides intended.

Esmond Road Productions has taken on an ambitious challenge with this version of The Bacchae, and it’s good to see the cast, for the most part, manage the complex language so competently. Erica Martin, as Dionysus, gives an assertive performance, ably supported by Anna Carfora as Kadmos, Helen Wingrave as Teiresias, Chantelle Micallef Grimaud as Agave, and Merete Wells as Agafya. If you are interested in seeing a show that allows you to focus on a beautifully pared down version of this ancient play, then take a trip to the Bread and Roses pub theatre to see this production.

Reviewed by Dominica Plummer

Photography by Maria Makenna

MEDEA

The Coronet Theatre

★★★★

“beautifully atmospheric”

MEDEA

The Coronet Theatre

Reviewed on 18th June 2025

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Takuma Uchida

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

MEDEA

MEDEA

MEDEA

Bread and Roses Theatre

Reviewed – 17th September 2019

★★★

“a beautifully pared down version of this ancient play”

Reviewed by Dominica Plummer

Photography by Maria Makenna

The Bacchae

Bread and Roses Theatre until 21st September

Previously reviewed at this venue:

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