Medea (1983)

Medea (Zoe Caldwell) is in Corinth with Jason (Mitchell Ryan) and their two young sons. King Kreon wants to reward Jason for his exploits: he gives the hand of his daughter, Glauce, to Jason.

Director:

Mark Cullingham

Writers:

Euripides (play), Robinson Jeffers (English translation)

Stars:

Zoe Caldwell, Judith Anderson, Mitchell Ryan

Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy.

Cast

Cast overview:
Zoe Caldwell	...	Medea
Judith Anderson	...	Nurse
Mitchell Ryan	...	Jason
Jacqueline Brookes	...	1st Woman of Corinth
Paul Sparer	...	Creon
Peter Brandon	...	Aegeus
Harriet Nichols	...	2nd Woman
Giulia Pagano	...	3rd Woman
Don McHenry	...	The Tutor
Stephen Garvin	...	Child
Christopher Garvin	...	Child
Lucien Douglas	...	Slave
John Peters	...	Attendant
Alan Thompson	...	Attendant
Mark Leone	...	Attendant

Storyline

Medea (Zoe Caldwell) is in Corinth with Jason (Mitchell Ryan) and their two young sons. King Kreon wants to reward Jason for his exploits: he gives the hand of his daughter, Glauce, to Jason.

---

Plot Keywords:

character name as title | mother murders own child | medea character | jason character | creon character | 

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Did You Know?

Trivia

This production of "Medea" opened at the Cort Theater in New York City on May 2, 1982 and ran for sixty-five performances.

---

Quotes

Medea: Then if you had a dogged eyed enemy and needed absolute vengeance, you'd kill the man's children first, unchild him then unlife him.

---

Connections

Version of Play of the Week: Medea (1959)

User Reviews

Abandon all hope ye who view ...

I really don't view myself as a suicidal person. However, during a recent viewing of this production, I found myself repeatedly wishing for death. Why? First, the taping of the play is horrendous. Truly, I've seen better use of a camera in family home videos. Now, I can already imagine people gnashing their teeth at this and defending this production by saying it's a taping of a stage play and is subject to some limitations. That really isn't an excuse. I've seen several taped stage productions and most of them outshine this one without even trying. The blocking is horrible, the introduction of Creon is so poorly shot that it's kind of sad, and there are times when the actors face away from the audience and--apparently--whatever microphones they were using.

Let's get into the performances. I understand that some of these performances were critically acclaimed and received awards. If those critics and handlers of awards saw anything resembling the performances I saw ... I can only guess that they enjoyed abundant access to coke in the 1980s.At first, I thought that the actor playing the maid was suffering from Parkinson's or some other horrible ailment. Then I was subjected to the other female performances. They all seem to think making wild gestures and ringing every damn syllable dry with trembling voices makes a good performance. (Dana Carvey used to do an impression that perfectly resembles these performances but I've forgotten the name of the celebrity he was supposed to be sending up.) Fortunately, the guys, with the exception of the fellow playing Creon, didn't seem to be putting much effort into anything, which mercifully gives us some respite from the overacting of the ladies. Perhaps the worst thing I can say about the performances of the men is that I instantly recognized Jason as Edward Montgomerey from Dharma and Greg. In my mind, an actor should be able to give very contrasting performances when playing a Greek hero and a yuppie in San Francisco during the late 20th century. He failed that test.

In summation, watching this marked a few hours off my life that I will never get back.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Filming Locations:

Eisenhower Theatre, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts - 2700 F Street NW, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Q Productions Corporation, WQED

Technical Specs

Color:

Color