Medea in Kolchis

STRANGE SUN
The Argonauts. Jason. Medea.
A six-part series by Roland Schimmelpfennig
Episode IV.

Directed by Karin Beier
 

IV. Medea in Colchis: A Reconstruction

Four people are sitting together. There are many indications that they are in some kind of therapy session or in a psychiatric ward. But it could just as easily be the afterlife, an underworld like that of Hades. Among the four people is one who has long been dead, Absyrtos, Medea’s brother, while the others—Jason, Medea, Aietes—are still alive. An encounter between the living, the undead, and the dead—one that could never have taken place in reality. Roland Schimmelpfennig conceives of a kind of space of memory in which the four laboriously attempt to “reconstruct” a shared version of the story. We follow them to Colchis to find out exactly what happened there back then. Medea helped Jason obtain the Golden Fleece—that much is certain. But for what reason? Was it love or calculation? And who, then, dismembered her brother Absyrtos to prevent their father Aietes from pursuing them? The text begins with a retrospective and explores the power of narration, which seems capable of retroactively correcting reality.

Starring: Lina Beckmann, Sebastian Blomberg, Devid Striesow, and Kristof Van Boven

Director: Karin Beier
Set design: Johannes Schütz
Costumes: Wicke Naujoks
Music: Jörg Gollasch
Video: Severin Renke
Lighting: Annette ter Meulen
Dramaturgy: Sybille Meier

More info:Medea in Colchis | Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg