By Kathy McKean, after Euripides

Directed by Gordon Barr

Review by Eloise Robertson

Bard in the Botanics

It is a rare treat to know instantaneously that you can trust a performance to carry you through its script and deliver you neatly to its conclusion. The moment Isabelle Joss opens as the Nurse, the audience knows Medea is such a treat. Performing in such neat tandem with the script, she sets the tone for this showcase of perfect alignment between stellar performances and superb writing. Bard in the Botanics’ returning Medea twists this old tale for a modern audience and the result is relevant and enlightening without ever becoming preachy. 

The first half flitted seamlessly between quick expository dialogues and Medea’s self-exposing monologues. The naturalism of these dialogues – despite their clearly crafted, witty retorts and high-intensity themes – is a credit to Kathy McKean’s script and the performer’s chemistry. Thanks is owed to director Gordon Barr for this, whose obvious effort crafted sequences so realistic one felt, in the audience, like a child who’d accidentally walked in on a parent’s argument. This feeling made us vulnerable to flinching under the control of the performers; particularly, with terror of Johnny Panchaud’s Jason. 

One cannot talk of performances which hung us on their every word without mentioning the titular star, Nicole Cooper. The modern-tilt of her costuming and script gave her abundant tools for us to relate to, but it was her casualness in talking with the audience which made her so real. This feeling of interaction was bolstered by Benny Goodman’s lighting design, which lit the audience when alone with Medea. The clear intelligence and calculation she instilled into her Medea met perfectly with McKean’s writing. 

Modernising a script without losing its metaphorical power is no easy task. McKean achieved this and more with lines of pure poetry falling quite naturally alongside a bickering which felt wholly relatable. What’s more, it was wholly consistent in its modernised tone and language. The result was a relatable Medea who won the audience to her side implicitly; whether on behalf of a feeling they’d felt or one their mothers might have, all believed in her. Carys Hobbs’ costuming was instrumental for this, Medea was the perfect image of a modern mother while Jason’s sleazy banker look made him wonderfully frustrating.

As the tragedy grew, backstage choices rounded out the emotional climax. The use of the evocative image of children’s clothes to represent Medea and Jason’s sons was particularly powerful, and handled extremely well by both Cooper and Joss. The power of the final sequence was borne out by bold, cool lighting and an intense soundscape which met the cries on stage well. This compensated for slight falters in the storytelling at this point; Medea’s brutal final act, undermined by a lack of build up, fell less realistically than it should have.

Fortunately, the aftermath played out with the required intensity, especially Panchaud’s squirming devastation which was exemplary and completely gutwrenching.McKean’s script unites with Cooper’s performance to create a Medea who showcases womanhood with heartbreaking relevance. Those with the chance to see it will be lucky to carry its outstanding writing and gutting themes with them.

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