Theatre Review: My Mother Medea

A picture from the Greek version, played in Cyprus. 

My Mother Medea - a play shown in the Unicorn, a small modern theatre near London Bridge. Adapted from the Greek play, also titled My Mother Medea. 
By Holger Schober
Directed by Justin Audibert

The thing I enjoyed most about this play was how stunningly uncomfortable it made me feel. Yes. That's right. But, before I explain further, let me first set the scene.

The Unicorn Theatre is a cheerful building nestled in the heart of London. It's small, and is usually known for its plays for children. We saw a version of the three musketeers there many years ago, so I had a rough idea of what to expect: big, inventive sets and a small cast of skilled actors. So I was more than a little surprised when we were all herded into a classroom. 

The play was taken from the well known epic, Jason and the Argonauts. In a nutshell, to defeat his uncle, Jason has to find a witch, Medea who has the power to trick the king's own daughters into killing him. They became lovers and had a turbulent relationship, the end product product driving Medea to kill her own children. And, as you can guess from the title, the play was set from the kids' point of view. Now, I was expecting a toga or two, and perhaps someone parading around with a laurel leaf crown. But no: we were greeted with a perfectly ordinary classroom.

If you're interested, click read more below - you'll see more about the experience and my opinions on it. If not, take a peek at the others I've reviewed. Enjoy!

This room was set up your average classroom - study posters on the walls, heavily battered desks, several sad looking motivational posters and a desk at the front. Sat either side of the desk were two students - one boy with shoulders hunched and gaze firmly fixed on the floor and his sister, sprawled across her chair, loudly filling her nails as she glared at us. It took me only a second to realise that they were the actors, and we were sitting on the "stage". As soon as we had filed into our seats, the actress leapt up from her chair and stalked around the classroom. The fiery aggression that came from her mouth was enough to make us run from the room in terror. She, in her seemingly permanent fury, would round upon any audience member that even looked at her, spitting out profanities and making threats.

 Once she had made several teens wet themselves, she began her introduction - she was Medeius and her brother was Eriopis, and anyone who made fun of their names would personally have their teeth knocked out. She explained that they were the new kids - refugees even, forced out of their country by their dad's successful career and forced to move to school after school until they were old enough to make their own way in life. Her fury didn't lessen even when her introverted younger brother tried to calm her down and speak civilly. They entered into heated argument after headed argument, each one slowly revealing more of their terrible childhood. 

Their personalities showed the two paths of rejection - one sunk into himself and kept the doubts inside, and the other, so fueled by bitterness and mistrust, pushed away everyone, even her own brother. Medeius hasn't known any love, except perhaps the barest hint of motherly care from the absent Medea, and became overly aggressive, hardening her heart against any enemies or friends. She was larger than life, as if over compensating for the sadness within, but her brother turned to the opposite approach: he became the yin to her yang - quiet, withdrawn and bitter. 

The play finished with the siblings turning to face the audience, and, with each finishing the other's sentence, explained their end - killed by their alcoholic mother as a way to get back at their aloof father. Mentally torn apart, and finally murdered by their own parents gave the twisted experience a sobering ending. The left, holding hands, their last words being "dead". 

This play was amazing. Of course, at the time, I would have broken my own finger to escape the situation (it made you that uncomfortable), but as soon as I wasn't in any immediate danger, I loved it. The raw emotions from the actors, coupled with the fact they were walking around right between our desks made it an unforgettable experience.

In my opinion, there were only two issues with the play. Firstly, I though the introvert could have been shyer at the beginning, taking longer to wind up to full emotion crazy time. Secondly, I felt that there could have been more ambiance noise - we were in a classroom, so shouldn't there be the sounds of the students from the corridor?  However, that's all I can complain about. The modern spin on the Greek epic (Dad's a movie star, Mum's an alcoholic) was perfectly done and well executed, and so smooth it could have been the original format. Finally, I have to applaud the way their tough facade flaked away, piece by piece, revealing the pain beneath. 

So, in a nutshell: the most realistic, in-your-face play I've ever seen, coupled with a steady stream of swearwords and a whole lot of shouting. Oh, it was stunning.