Staging Euripides’ Medea at CPH Stage Festival, as part of CISPA’s graduation project, reintroduced Danish and CPH expat audiences to one of the best-known, celebrated and psychological of the Greek tragedies, which still has the ability to evoke pity, fear and catharsis to audiences even 2,500 years after it was written.
The production examined the play from the perspective of social injustice, gendered and racialized marginalisation, and (violent) resistance in a cynical world, reflecting on perspectives which still resonate today. The transcultural stance, with acting students from different parts of the world, re-situated Medea’s tale of abandonment and revenge within an ecumenical framework of shared grief and historical wound. The hybrid chorus—partially live, partially projected in film— built a multi-lingual sonic tapestry through which pain, exile, and survival were collectively processed. The performance was enhanced by a transdisciplinary form and aesthetic, mixing physical theater with an original music score performed live, as well as with film and video projections, sculpting a postdramatic landscape where the ancient text was revisited with irony as a form of communal, post-tragic lament.
Original text: Euripides
Directed and adapted by: Avra Sidiropoulou
Lighting design: Jacob Valet and Nicolai Valet
Video design: Emy Tzavra Bulloch
Original Music: Vanias Apergis
Choreography: Aleksantra Korhonen
Assistant Director: Elinora Simonsen
Poster design: Cecilie Relund
Cast:
Kiana Falizi - Medea
Kristín Þorsteinsdóttir - Medea
Rachel Bentzen - Medea
Huld Grímsdóttir - Nurse, King Aegeus
Henna Salonen - Tutor, King Creon
Sigríður Halla Eiríksdóttir - Chorus Leader, Messenger
Inka Turtola - Chorus Leader
Benóný Arnórsson - Jason
Johan Lehtonen - Jason
Onni Reilin - Jason
Chorus (on film):
Elitsa Radivoeva
Aleksantra Korhonen
Milda Sutkevičiūtė
Inka Turtola
Sigríður Halla Eiríksdóttir
Boys (on film):
Sylvester Neye
Sophocles Katsouras
Music:
Kristín Þorsteinsdóttir - Violin
Benóný Arnórsson - Guitar
Onni Reilin - Drums
Performance dates: 23 - 29 May 2025 at 19:30.
Venue: Teaterøen, William Wains Gade 11, 1432 København K
https://www.cphstage.dk/shows/medea
