A revival of an ancient legend is coming to the UA campus.
The UA School of Theatre Arts is presenting the Greek Epic, “”Medea,”” beginning Feb. 8.
The play has a twisted plot line, based on the life of Medea, a woman who devoted herself to her husband and their two children. The show begins with Medea’s husband, Jason, planning to leave her.
“”Medea is really hurt and she doesn’t know what to do, she feels alone and stupid,”” said Amy Shuttleworth, a junior in the UA School of Theatre Arts [cq], and the actor playing the role of Medea. “”She decides that the only thing she can do is seek revenge.””
To achieve this revenge, Medea plans to kill, Jason, his new wife, and his new wife’s father; However, that plan quickly changes.
“”As the play goes along, she realizes what would hurt him more is to take away everything he has in life,”” said Shuttleworth. “”She continues with her plan to kill his new wife and her father, but then decides to take her childrens’ lives instead of his.””
The play’s world is composed on the motive of revenge and the will to inflict pain.
“”It’s a dark play and it goes to some dark places,”” said Jeremy Selim [cq], an acting fellow with the UA School of Theatre Arts, and the actor playing the role of Jason. “”It’s not a happy show, but it’s a cathartic show.””
Shuttleworth faced a challenge in her portrayal of this sinister tale.
“”The hardest part is probably justifying her actions to myself, just because you don’t want to side with somebody who kills their children, but as the actor it’s your job to justify every single move she makes,”” she said. “”I really had to dig deep into what she was feeling, where her pain was coming from, and why she would choose to do things like this.””
With the world presented in “”Medea,”” it was also interesting for the lead roles to step outside of a normal character.
“”You have to be able to go to places that you don’t usually get to go to in your average play,”” said Shuttleworth. “”Only Greek tragedies allow you to go this deep.””
“”The most exciting part is playing these characters that are bigger than life,”” said Selim. “”These are people who fight dragons and monsters, and the gods are protecting them. These are things we don’t deal with everyday.””
Although “”Medea”” is a Greek epic, it’s still relatable to today’s lifestyle.
“”The human interactions are really similar to what we go through today,”” said Selim.
“”She’s just a woman whose husband has left her and she is sent into this chaotic world and ends up making decisions by those feelings,”” said Shuttleworth. “”She’s human and she has human pain.””
