Third World Bunfight presents

medEia

2013 Onwards

Creator: Third World Bunfight
Directed by: Brett Bailey                                                                                                                                  Written by: Oscar van Woensel

Across Africa, gangs of armed men crash through remote villages looking for booty, sex and adventure. Medea, a village priestess, follows Jason - the leader of one of these gangs - to the backwater African headquarters of King Creon. Here is isolation, abandonment and the violence of xenophobia drive her into depression with darkest repercussions...

Somewhere in Africa a group of women (the chorus) gathers to dramatise Medea's tale of transcendence over the powers that marginalise and silence them; to enact a ceremony to instil the hope and courage to face their bleak lives. Two women play the role of Medea: the younger adorned in gold, the older grey with ash...

Oscar van Woensel's beautiful adaptation of the classical Greek myth is a fragmented stream of consciousness studded with the lyrics of pop songs.

Bailey's ritualistic interpretation draws inspiration from Haiti where he spent several months working in 2004.

The 2005 production took place amongst the shacks of an abandoned movie set on the Spier Estate near Cape Town.

 "Using ritual and cultural archetypes as part of the text, Bailey breaks down conventions, and blurs borders between art forms, as he creates explosively vibrant storytelling fueled by corrosive choreography." The Star

"Exhilarating theatrical experience." The Cape Times

"So thorough and consistent is Bailey's cultural transposition that the script seems custom written for this production." Mail & Guardian

"medEia is Brett Bailey's anarchic piece" The Star

If you would like to book medEia, please contact Jan Ryan

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