Medea in Korinth

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

Directed by: Karin Beier
 

v. Medea in Corinth: The Lost Children

With “Medea,” Euripides created one of the most fascinating and unsettling tragedies of antiquity. With over 200 adaptations, it has enjoyed an extraordinary history of reception. Initially just an episode in the Argonauts’ voyage, Medea has, over the centuries, become one of the most significant female figures in world literature. Roland Schimmelpfennig’s adaptation of the material combines Euripides’ tragedy with Grillparzer’s psychological approach and focuses on a reflection of the image of motherhood in a male-dominated society. Jason and Medea have left behind a restless, nomadic existenceinGreece. Medea is and remains the outsider, viewed with suspicion and shunned. In any case, she does not meet local expectations of a “good” wife and mother. The couple had to flee Iolcos due to suspicion of murdering the ruler Pelias. Now, in their new refuge of Corinth, Iason decides to put an end to this ill-fated relationship and leave Medea in order to marry the king’s daughter, Creusa, and finally become king after all. Medea and the children are to be banished. The stranger is nothing but a nuisance. So she resolves to commit a monstrous act: she will sacrifice her two children—for the sake of her sense of justice, in retaliation for being met only with resentment and mistrust, and as a cruel act against Jason, herself, and her own misguided decision to have followed the man into the other world.

Starring: Lina Beckmann, Devid Striesow, Michael Wittenborn, Wolfram Koch, and others

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