Medea

Oscar Wilde once professed that “There are only two tragedies in life: one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.” Both are tragedies because sometimes what we want the most is the most detrimental to us. It is a theme forever present in the eternal spirit of Greek tragedies. The suffering and sorrow of the main characters is to prove Wilde’s point–that no matter what the actions along the way, the outcome is the same. The fates of these characters are predetermined, and nothing they do will stop the gods from playing with them as pawns on a chessboard. Such is the case in the Greek tragedy Medea, where a crazed and twisted woman ends up murdering everyone near to her in an effort to find vengeance.

It doesn’t seem like the sort of story that should be a play–everyone dying, the entire moral structure collapsing into a mess of tears and grief at the end. An ancient Greek proverb said that “If it were not for hope, the heart would break.” Medea herself eventually loses all hope that her life can change, and her broken heart leads her to commit unspeakable crimes. Ultimately, Medea is a twisted woman devoid of rational thought, and in Tulane’s own production of Medea, Kathleen Small perfectly lived this role. It’s the actors and actresses that breathed life into the story and made a story seemingly not appropriate for stage into the masterpiece it was.
The other characters were also outstanding. The chorus was well versed and proficient in telling the story in low and forceful tones. Creon (whom we know from both Oedipus and Antigone) is bound by the ethics of his past drama. Jason is fearful and his internal stuggle becomes evident throughout the play. His last monologue was the most appealing—his anger and grief were directly felt. If the sky was raining tears over him, the audience was also drenched. It was consummation in sorrow and in my mind, that’s the point of a Greek tragedy.

My favorite character though, was definitely the nurse. I thought Courtney Pauroso did a superb job playing the role. Perhaps her role inherently preserves the humanity of the play, but in my opinion, it was her portrayal that did so. While Medea was crazed and torn at the same time, the nurse was her foil in that she was concerned and watchful. She was the only character in the play (besides the chorus) that wasn’t bound by deep jealousies, rivalries, and crimes. She was an insider but an outsider to the Greek drama that formed the plot of Medea. Because she wasn’t bound by the moral conflicts that ruled over every other main character, she was the most rational.

The entire play was well coordinated, from the lighting to the music. The beats of the music harmonized with the mood of the play, and there were several moments when the characters were moving in contrasting patterns to the rhythm that spoke more powerfully than moments of monologues. I enjoyed this play more than I thought I would. As I watched the story unfold on the stage, I was more and more impressed with each of the characters and the way they become their characters in truth and perfection. I was thrilled to witness this living art and it become very evident the weeks of work it took the cast and crew to bring it to this standard of flawlessness.

Wilde’s truth was preserved in this play–Medea gets what she wants but doesn’t get what she ultimately wants. She finds her vengeance, but at a cost too high to pay. Tulane’s actors and actresses did a perfect job of investigating the plight of Medea and the other characters. For the audience, it was a lesson in tragedy.