The Greek tragedy Medea put on by the USC School of Theater in the Bing Theater was a performance that I thoroughly enjoyed. Though the story of Medea is incredibly dark and it can be hard for audience members to relate to the character of Medea because of her violent actions, the play was so well acted that I actually rooted for Medea, believing that she is just in seeking revenge on her husband, even in such a controversial way. The acting, movement, visual design and sound design of the play were all so well done that I was completely immersed in the story, not even noticing the lack of an intermission. However, the costumes and poor quality of the sound system in the theater, as well as never seeing Medea’s sons made the play seem less professional.
Medea is the story of a woman who kills her children in order to seek revenge upon her husband, a very dark tragedy and a story that may not seem enjoyable to watch. This was not the case in this performance due to the fantastic performance of the actress who played Medea. The beginning of the play seemed long and I got a little lost in the language, but once the story picked up and Medea devised her plan and became proactive instead of wailing in self-pity, I did not blink once because I was so mesmerized by Medea. The lead actress brought so much emotion and self-righteousness to the character that I completely believed her performance. She would stomp around the stage in rage, hair wild and uncombed, flying out behind her. She would scream and cry at the top of her lungs, making her performance exhilarating to watch. I did not notice the rest of the actors because the lead took over the stage.
The Chorus, made up of about thirty girls in white dresses, was also fabulous. Though the Chorus took up half the theater because they would stand on either side of the main seating area, the lack of seating available was well worth this positioning. Every audience member became surrounded by angry, and all at the same time, sympathetic women in white, each singing in different keys to make for an eerie off-pitch performance of the songs. The Chorus would move around the theater, climbing on theater chairs, moving rhythmically and loudly sighing, hypnotizing the audience in their wails.
I absolutely loved the visual design of the play. The stage was covered in large boulders and rocks that Medea would angrily climb over, strongly adding to her feeling of isolation, yet reflecting her power and determination. Steps lead to Medea’s house and she would dramatically disappear and reappear behind a glass door lit by a chandelier. My favorite part of the set design was the skinny life size trees on the stage. At times the detail of the leaves in the trees were visual through lighting, and sometimes the skinny silhouettes of the trees were all one could make out on the stage. They created a very dynamic feeling on stage and simultaneously made me feel like I was in ancient Greece.
The play also had a very strong sound design done by Molly McGraw. The play had atmospheric sounds throughout and the music for the chorus was merely a bass line with a metronome, adding incredibly to the eerie feeling of the play. Unfortunately, it seemed as though the sound system in the theater was weak and did not do the recorded sounds justice, particularly during the scene when Medea kills her sons. For some reason, Medea kills her sons off stage and I believe that this was a poor decision because the entire affair sounded fake due to the high amount of reverberation of the sounds.
I am not a huge fan of the costume design for the play because it was predictable. Medea wore a very gothic looking costume, all black with a large cloak and leather pants. I would have liked to see something more original for Medea. Even though she is a dark character, she is still a woman and a mother so I would have liked to see Medea in a dress. The Chorus’ costumes were also predictable; simple white dresses.
Though the play was not perfect and had limitations such as the poor sound system and lack of male actors to play Medea’s sons, I highly enjoyed the intensely female driven narrative and would recommend this performance of the play to anyone looking to be entertained by an angry self-righteous woman.
