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| Photography: Manuel Vason |
This autumn UK audiences will have the first opportunity to witness the English language premiere of Jean René Lemoine's reimagining of the classic story of passion and revenge Medea.
Previewing at the Marlborough Pub & Theatre in Brighton on the 28th September, the performance will premiere at The Place London presented as part of And What? Queer. Arts. Festival before going on tour to Cambridge Junction, Norwich Arts Centre, Pavilion Dance Bournemouth, Hull Truck Theatre, Unity Theatre Liverpool as part of Homotopia Festival, Lancaster Arts Centre at University of Lancaster, and Birmingham Repertory Theatre.
This startling reimagining sees Medea cast as the ultimate outsider, a stranger in a foreign land, a being filled with rage. Her monologue is half witness-statement, half incantation, taking us from ancient Greece to modern Europe and back again in a provocative, blood-soaked collage of performance, opera, and sexual confession.
Lemoine’s version of Medea, already performed in France to great acclaim, reimagines this archetypal figure from classical drama as a genderless, stateless, and violently transgressive contemporary figure. The playwright, an artist of Afro-French origin born in Haiti, makes Medea a stranger in her own country, who seeks to flee from the asphyxiation of family bonds through carnal union with her brother and then in the physical bedazzlement of her encounter with Jason, the ravisher and the violator. The work speaks about marginalisation, isolation, and exile.
The performer, dancer and vocalist, François Testory fuses his extraordinary physicality, and androgynous and unique stage presence with a radical mixing of classical and contemporary vocal technique to bring the murderous figure of Medea to life in this evocative lament featuring live music by Phil Von. Testory has performed with some of Europe’s most innovative companies, including Lindsay Kemp, DV8, Rambert Dance Company, Punch Drunk, and Gecko. François Testory was last seen in Manchester at HOME in 2016 in Gecko's Institute.
Following a hugely successful run at The Arcola with The Plague, Medea is the new work from one of the UK’s most celebrated directors and authors, Neil Bartlett. The piece is directed and translated by Bartlett who has drawn on his experience of both heightened classical drama at the largest scale and of the most intimate contemporary queer solo performance genre to create a powerful theatrical experience. Neil Bartlett was formerly Artistic Director the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith; his other recent work includes Stella (LIFT, Brighton Festival, Holland Festival 2016) and the Britten Canticles (Aldeburgh, Brighton, Royal Opera House, 2015).
Medea has been possible thanks to the generous support of Arts Council England, The Place, the Institut Français of the United Kingdom, and SACD France (the Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques). NFA International Arts & Culture is also grateful for the partnership support of The Marlborough Theatre (Brighton), And What? Queer Arts Festival, Folke, Theatre of Europe, and South East Dance.
NFA International Arts & Culture
In association with The Place, the Institut français du Royaume Uni, and SACD France
Present
MEDEA
Performance by François Testory
Translation and direction by Neil Bartlett
Corsetier, Mr Pearl
Sound design and performance by Phillipe Fontez
Lighting design by Chahine Yavroyan
Stage, company and technical management by Jules Millard
Production photography by Manuel Vason
Produced by Nelson Fernandez and Lia Prentaki for NFA International Arts & Culture
2017 Tour Dates
- Marlborough Pub & Theatre Brighton – 28-29 September
- The Place London presented as part of And What? Queer. Arts. Festival – 5-6-7 October
- Cambridge Junction – 11 October
- Norwich Arts Centre – 18 October
- Pavilion Dance Bournemouth – 20 October
- Hull Truck Theatre Hull – 24-25 October
- Unity Theatre, Homotopia Festival, Liverpool – 1 November
- Lancaster Arts, University of Lancaster – 2 November
- Birmingham Repertory Theatre – 17-18 November