05/02/04

Sunday June 20, 1999

On her good side

Woman's rebellion against patriarchy and the myriad forms it has taken have been the subject of many literary works.  In theatre, it witnessed the production of masterpieces like Aristophanes' 'Frogs' and Henrik Ibsen's 'Doll's House'. It has also seen the reinterpretation of many mythological and historical characters from the feminist perspective.  But seldom has there been an attempt to reinterpret a dramatic piece which portrays a woman as a sorcerss adn witch. Masquerade, a Chennai-based theatre group's presentation of Euripides' play 'Medea' was such an attempt.

The play (circa 5th century BC) was presented from an entirely new perspective with the sympathetic portrayal of a much maligned and misconstrued character, Medea.

Medea, daughter of Aeetes, the King of Colchis, falls in love with Jason, the captain of the Argonauts.  She helps him get the golden fleece by killing the dragon that guards it.  She then elopes with Jason.

Infuriated by this, Aeetes sends his son Aspyrtus to imprison them. Medea using her mythical powers, kills her brother.  She has two children by her marriage to Jason, and lives in Corinth.  But after ten years of marriage, Jason decides to marry Glauke, the daughter of Kreon and King of Corinth. Medea, shocked by this betrayal, resolves to take revenge.

Euripides' play, which takes off from here, traces Medea's path to her revenge. She sends poisoned wedding garments to Glauke and succeeds in killing her and her father Kreon. She then kills her two children and completes her revenge on Jason.

A 'treacherous act' it may be, but even in that age this act meant a virtual revolt against patriarchy.  The society that spurned and branded her a murderer and sorceress failed to see the Medea who killer her  brother and betrayed her motherland for Jason.  Her sacrifices have gone unnoticed and only her crimes are selected and condemned. It's this hitherto unseen side of Medea that is brought to light by Masquerade's presentation of the play.

Shakila and Aparna Gopinath, who played Medea 1 and Medea 2 respectively, succeeded in bringing out the anguish and pain experienced by her between the p lanning of the act and the first motion.  Krupasagar Sridharan as Jason and Paul Mathew as Kreon gave memorabl eperformances. The 'consciously stylised' production and direction by Krishna Kumar with jazz-mime form, lighting by Mitran Devanesen and choreography by Deepak Bansal made it a feast for theatre-goers in the city.

- Nangagopal R Menon.