HowlRound Theatre Commons: Euripides’s Medea brings two opposing forces to a head. On the one hand, there is the titular character: a mythical woman—granddaughter of Helios, the sun god, and niece of Circe, a powerful enchantress—who betrayed her divine family and killed her brother so she could be with a mortal. On the other hand, there is Jason: the mortal who is the object of Medea’s affections, who has achieved grandeur by stealing the Golden Fleece due to the heroine’s magical intervention. Their tragic love story feeds into the male fantasy of a man who subjects a powerful woman to his will.
4 comments:
Even though this adaptation takes many liberties with the original greek myth (the article seems to suggest that Mojada only uses the myth to frame the story), it still seems that Mojada misses the central tenet of the character of Medea. In Euripedes’ original story, Medea is not a victim. She is a smart, calculating woman who is enraged when her life gets taken away from her and she is forced to move into exile. This production does seem like a fascinating way of blending old stories and new times, however creating the main character to be a victim seeking her way back into her designated place in the patriarchy seems almost counterintuitive to the original myth. Medea is not supposed to give the audience a guilt trip, she is meant to be a multifaceted character in every sense of the word, she is meant to make the audience understand her and hate her at the same time, and the article seems to indicate that this is not what Mojada does.
I have to agree with Bridget on the issue of Medea's character; if the article's comments are true, Mojada misses the message of the original myth. I think that framing the play around the story of Medea is probably more for the sake of storytelling and not for the purpose of maintaining the message, and if it was meant to convey the same meaning it seems to have failed in that objective. Based on what the article tells us, I think the purpose of Mojada is to create discussion about the issue of cultural assimilation and the hardships of undocumented citizens rather than discussing the issues that women face in our patriarchal society. However, this show's message is obviously still valuable to our current cultural climate, and while it may have warped the character of Medea, Mojada brings to light the specific issues that female undocumented citizens have. Perhaps it is better that the Medea of Mojada is not the same character because that would not be as accurate a representation of the lives of female undocumented citizens.
I'm a sucker for any adapted Greek myth! And though this seems to be a loose adaptation, I would like to present the case that it really isn't. First, a telenovela is the perfect place to adapt Medea; what else could have drama equal to that of Greek myths? In Mojada, like Medea, Medea is betrayed by every man in her life, culminating in her final act of revenge, not just against Jason, but against the world. After the sacrifice Medea made for Jason, she adds a new perspective to a woman scorned. Medea's character has resonated with audiences throughout history and, in the end, an audience member is left shocked and disgusted, yet with a strange level of understanding and sympathy. To me, this is the perfect context to put undocumented women in. Mojada successfully aligns audience members with Medea, a young undocumented woman who has gone through horrors to get to America. Luis Alfaro, Mojada's writer and MacArthur Genius Grant Recipient, has a fantastic understanding of what it means to create sympathy for a character that the audience may not be inclined to feel sympathy towards. To me, this story being an adaptation of Medea is a no-brainer and Alfaro's genius in using Euripides' familiar story exceeds expectation. Though its run at the Public has come to an end, I would love to see Mojada.
We were fortunate enough to read this play our first year, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The fact that it is now being produced, and at The Public no less, is a wonderful accomplishment and I would love to be able to go see it. While I understand the hesitation of the writer to fully embrace this rendition of the classic myth, I disagree with several of his points. I firstly think that melodrama has everything to do with Greek mythology, and even though the setting and circumstances have been changed in this telling of it, the magical realistic melodrama at the core of the story's origin is essential to the plot itself. Secondly, I think it lends itself perfectly to a telenovela format, and makes it relatable to today's audiences. Of course, I also have to acknowledge that I am talking about audiences at the Public, which I would guess are not incredibly diverse enough to have several members who might have actually lived this setting's plight. This is, after all, a story being adapted to be palatable and enjoyed by American audiences. But, in terms of updated from a complicated and hard-to-grasp mythological text, I think that this interpretation does a pretty good job of connecting the core of the story to modern audiences.
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