Theater arts

‘Medea’ performing arts project offers new lens on a classic tale

Uprooting Medea, a London-dependent film and theater challenge that gives a fashionable choose on the historic Greek tragedy, will come to Union Monday, March 7, as section of a tour of U.S. school campuses by Khameleon Productions, which celebrates the inventive electric power of world wide greater part artists’ voices.

Uprooting Medea, a London-based film and theater project image

Hosted by the Classics Division, Khameleon co-founder Shivaike Shah will visit the Initial Yr Preceptorial class, On Travel, taught by Stacie Raucci, the Frank Bailey Professor of Classics and office chair.

At 5 p.m., Shah will give a talk in Karp 105. It is open up to the campus neighborhood.

In addition, there will be an open dialogue of the Euripides play on Friday, March 4, at 3 p.m. in Lamont 102, in preparation for the visit.

“I’m pretty energized that Shivaike Shah can be with us in human being to focus on the Medea challenge,” claimed Raucci. “He frequented my Historic Planet in Film course nearly this past drop. College students not only appreciated his tactic to vital themes in the tale of Medea – our class experienced just completed discussing Pasolini’s film ‘Medea’but also located inspiring his personal story of co-founding Khameleon Productions.”

“Medea,” written in 431 BC, is dependent on the myth of Medea, a large priestess, and her partner Jason, leader of the Argonauts, and depicts Medea’s ruthless revenge against her betraying spouse.

Shah, a British Indian producer, and Francesca Amewudah-Rivers, a British Ghanaian-Nigerian actor, composer and musician, initially directed and adapted the perform for a variety-centered drama culture at Oxford College, from which both equally graduated in 2019.

Their groundbreaking creation united actors, dancers, spoken-term artists and musicians from multiple backgrounds, reimagining Euripides’s tale with an all-world wide majority forged and crew, and featuring authentic compositions, movement and spoken phrase.

Pursuing the good results of their generation, Shah and Amewudah-Rivers launched Uprooting Medea to investigate the play through an interdisciplinary lens of race, belonging, identification, residence, otherness and the immigrant expertise.

“So frequently, narratives about people of coloration are centered around trauma. These narratives are critical, but at Khameleon, we want to rejoice our experiences and draw strength from our struggles,” Shah says. “Our productions will exhibit how assorted groups coming jointly can, and will, get over the systemic problems we facial area.”

Shah has been awarded guidance from across the United Kingdom and the United States to create the theater task and firm. He and Amewudah-Rivers have formed their “Medea” adaptation into a quick film, directed by Riffy Ahmed and set for launch later on this yr.

The four-thirty day period Uprooting Medea tour started at Brown University earlier this thirty day period and has an itinerary that consists of 30 main schools and universities throughout 12 states. Union is co-hosting its stop by with Skidmore School, funded by grants from the Classical Association of the Atlantic States and the Society for Classical Scientific studies.

At the summary of the tour in May well, Khameleon Productions will return to Brown to host a virtual accumulating for taking part establishments to discuss their activities with the challenge, the efficiency background and legacy of “Medea,” and the classics more broadly.

Related Articles