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Medea and Phaedra in Delirium by Sledgehammer Theatre  Sledgehammer goes Greek with two original productions of
Greek tragedy playing in rep – a new, updated, imaginative adaptation of Medea
by San Diego’s renowned Greek playwright Marianne McDonald, and Phaedra
in Delirium by playwright Susan Yankowitz (playwright of last year’s
Sledgehammer hit A Knife in the Heart).
Marianne McDonald’s very updated version of Medea transports the tragic story of unbridled revenge from the distant past of legendary Greece to modern-day Las Vegas. There Medea (George Alphonso Walker) is a drag queen singer/actress playing at “The Parthenon” on The Strip. She/He is in love with the young widower James Elliot (Robert MacAulay) and has become the loving caretaker of James’s young children. But all that love transforms into an unstoppable murderous rage when James announces that he is going to marry Athena, the rich heiress daughter of The Parthenon’s owner Michael Creon (Ruff Yeager). Medea’s rage is not quelled despite James’s promise that he still wants to keep her around as a mistress. Overall Medea scores on several fronts. The strongest effect is when we get glimpses into the mind of Medea through her inner voices in the guise of “Medea Divas.” Set in the back and far up from the stage, Jessa Watson and Kim Strassburger whisper Medea’s mostly unspoken thoughts as she slips into insanity, creating an authentic atmosphere of increasing lunacy from which all need fear – even her beloved stepchildren played with tender innocence by Nathan August, Michael Cullen, and Kevin Koppman-Gue. Robert MacAulay turns in a solid performance as James Elliot, the vain and confident womanizer who also reveals a softer side when playing with his children. Ruff Yeager delivers an equally confident Michael Creon who is used to getting his way, but still shows some concern for Medea’s feelings. Along with David Lee Cuthbert’s always awesome lighting effects, Ruff creates one of the creepiest scenes as he tries to save his daughter Athena from a gruesome fate courtesy of Medea’s black magic. And Warren G. Nolan Jr. stands out in perhaps the best role of the play, Medea’s close friend Nuria who feels Medea’s anguish and anger, but is stunned and sickened at how far her revenge will go. Nuria also acts as part narrator of the tale, often singing the narration to the mesmerizing musical arrangements by Jean-Claude Rideau, sometimes accompanied by those ominous voices of Medea’s Divas.
Phaedra is a dark and moody play with a riveting ending, though it occasionally moves a bit slowly and is not quite as completely captivating as Yankowitz’s powerful A Knife in the Heart. Still, there are numerous intense scenes as the tension builds and Phaedra wavers between living safely by keeping her secret forever hidden, and living dangerously by revealing her passion to the shy Hippolytus. Guess which one she chooses! Robin Christ is the focal point throughout and offers an exceptional portrayal of the emotionally torn Phaedra who is in turn pained by her sense of aging, girlfully playful at the thought Hippolytus might return her love, and constantly agonizing over her dilemma which she knows may be her undoing, but over which she is simply too obsessed to let it go. The cast also includes good performances by David Stanbra (the young murderer from last year’s A Knife in the Heart) as the painfully shy Hippolytus who feels very uncomfortable around his new stepmother, Ruff Yeager as Phaedra’s roaming husband Theseus who is proud of his young son and oblivious to his wife’s deep and abiding interest in said son, and Monique Gaffney as Phaedra’s young girlfriend who has a secret passion of her own, and who acts as an adviser on Phaedra’s dangerous desires.Medea performs through September 27, 2003. Phaedra performs through October 11, 2003.
~ Cast of Medea: Queen of Colchester ~
Nick: Chris Hatcher James Elliot: Robert MacAulay Nuria: Warren G. Nolan, Jr. Medea Diva: Kim Strassburger Edward Jameson: Greg Tankersley Medea: George Alphonso Walker Medea Diva: Jessa Watson Michael Creon: Ruff Yeager Children: Nathan August, Michael Cullen, and Kevin Koppman-Gue Playwright: Marianne McDonald Director: Kirsten Brandt and David Tierney Scenic Design: Mathilda de Luce Costume Design: Mary Larson Lighting Design: David Lee Cuthbert Sound Design and Original Music: Jean-Claude Rideau Stage Manager: John Martin ~ Cast of Phaedra in Delirium ~
Phaedra: Robin Christ The Friend: Monique Gaffney Theseus: Ruff Yeager Hippolytus: David Stanbra Playwright: Susan Yankowitz Director: Kirsten Brandt and David Tierney Scenic Design: Mathilda de Luce Costume Design: Mary Larson Lighting Design: David Lee Cuthbert Sound Design and Original Music: Kirsten Brandt Stage Manager: John Martin |
In Susan Yankowitz’s Phaedra in Delirium we have a
middle-aged woman Phaedra (Robin Christ) newly married to renowned
philanderer Theseus (Ruff Yeager). Phaedra had wanted Theseus for years,
but had to wait twenty years for him after he married her sister Arachne. With
Arachne’s passing, Phaedra quickly leaps at the chance to finally be with her
Theseus, but suddenly finds herself obsessed with Hippolytus (David Stanbra),
the grown son of Theseus and Arachne who reminds Phaedra of the young Theseus
whom she fell in love with all those years ago.