Medea
Ancient play serves as sign of times
by Thomas Dodson
Staff Writer

Sex, divorce, murder, betrayal and illegitimate children.

No, it's not the plot line for "All My Children," it's the story of the first lady of crazy, "Medea."

Daughter of Hecate, goddess of the night, and granddaughter of the sun, Medea was not only powerful but unruly.

Her revenge against her husband, Jason, is unparalleled and her insanity unquestioned.

The NT Dance and Theatre Arts department presents her in just that light in its production of Euripides' "Medea."

This Greek tragedy places its hero in the center of heartbreak hotel with no constructive way to deal with it.

After Jason leaves Medea and her children to marry another women, she plots her revenge.

In order to break him, Medea will murder Jason's future wife and father-in-law, the princess and king of Corinth, as well as their children.

Directed by Dr. Ralph Culp of the dance and theatre arts faculty, the play was done with a mixture of contemporary and traditional styles.

The set seethes with a dark atmosphere rendered by small columns, a wickedly pastel and neon painted backdrop and a floor painted like something out of a Van Gogh.

It made it feel as if the whole situation was too surreal to be real.

The costumes of all the principal characters were done as if to give off that '90s Claire Danes-Leonardo DiCaprio-"Romeo and Juliet" feel.

But minor characters and the chorus appeared to be dressed and performed in the traditional style of Greek theatre.

Medea's costume was simple and expressed many insights into her character.

A plain, but flattering gown of burgundy satin and lace not only showed her sexuality, but made her look evil.

She looked like a dominatrix minus the leather.

That's all right though, because Jason and his crew had enough to go around.

Jason and his men looked like neo-nazi-head banger-crack addict-bondage freaks.

Jason's future father-in-law, Creon, looked like a cross between a James Bond villain and Alec Baldwin's character in "The Shadow."

Other on-the-verge-costumes included guards dressed like Devo in rain ponchos and pimps.

The chorus and minor characters, however, were dressed in the simple rags of servants.

Thus, the principal character always stood out and the minor characters always blended in.

This vanilla and chocolate swirl approach sometime drew attention away from the dialogue, but helped keep the "quick fix" college audience paying attention.

Unfortunately, this is a sacrifice directors have to make when dealing with the classics.

Other original directing approaches were taken to give the show a sleeker look.

Back to the '90s movie version of "Romeo and Juliet;" the play's media gimmick was a video camera operated by an actor with its images projected onto screens on side stages.

Another actor was a reporter attempting to interview every character coming on stage.

Again, this was an interesting and attention getting method. It is always good to see directors and actors take risks on stage.

Still, it is unfortunate that the twist and turns added to keep an audience from zoning out can draw attention away from what is most important, the script.

Fortunately, almost every time the audience was drawn away, they were brought back by good acting.

The show started off slowly, with the incredibly over-dramatic rambling of the Nurse (Crystal Dawn Rios, San Antonio senior), but the tempo was brought back to life by the women of the chorus.

All of these actresses played one part together and played it well.

The chorus gave the show a pickup every time it need one, and all of the members were in-tune with the emotions they were asked to portray throughout the play.

Other secondary characters such as Creon (Mark Lancaster, Lewisville junior) and Aegeus (Jamison Gentle, Houston senior) kept the ball rolling by getting the show into its important moments of plot progression.

But the strongest of minor performance seen in a long time came from the Messengers (Drew Abbott, Amarillo freshman, and Lucas Cash White, Gladewater freshman).

The two deliver the news to Medea that her wedding gift, a poisoned dress, worked and the princess and king are dead.

In a powerful scene, the two were able to raise the level of intensity and give the audience exactly the mental picture they needed.

Of course the production's greatest asset is its stars.

Medea (Catia Ojeda, Dallas freshman), and Jason (Will Brunson, Denton senior) played off each other like playing tennis with a grenade.

One always had the upper hand and one was always in pain.

Ojeda had Medea pegged.

She seduced her audience with everything from her commanding voice, ice cold stares and swiveling hips as she strutted across the stage.

Brunson truly played a bastard by exuding every amount of confidence a man can have.

He's the kind of guy you would like to see kicked between the legs.

Both Jason and Medea shared the same tragic flaws, their vanity and selfishness.

Ojeda and Brunson tossed the audience's empathy and catharsis around like a hot potato.

Their chemistry is what kept the show alive.

It wasn't until the end that the audience realized they deserve each other.

Over all, "Medea" is an amazing script with good acting, interesting costumes and great leads.

When it was all over, the cast deserved a standing ovation, but was received by an emotionally drained audience, thus telling us that the only thing this show really needs is an intermission.