IMEDEA
“An intensely rich production, touching on the intimate and the collective, divorce, racism, devouring ambition and rebellion, "IMEDEA" is a powerful assault on conformism and authoritarianism.” Laure Stephan, Le Monde.
About.
I M E D E A , 2021-23
World Premiere, December 2021, Journees Theatrales de Cartage.
Running time, 80 minutes
Performed in English and Arabic with surtitles
Text & Direction Sulayman Al Bassam Scenography & Lighting Eric Soyer Performers Hala Omran, Abed Kobeissi, Ali Hout, Oussama Jamei, Sulayman Al Bassam Music Two, or the Dragon, Company Manager Wafa Al Fraheen, Admin Manager Saif Al Areef, Assistant Lighting Designer Saad Samir,
In this startling free adaptation of the Greek myth, Al Bassam draws on the eroding infrastructures of fact in a digital world, to re-imagine Medea for an era of tech-driven authoritarianism. In this poetic and politically charged re-writing, Medea figures as an educated and outspoken Arab woman, who re-directs the tools of surveillance directed at her by an authoritarian state to re-enact the violence of history, accumulated over generations, inside the ranks of her family unit.
Director’s note.
“ With brutal simplicity, Al Bassam has created an iconoclastic work of theatre and live performance. ”
Abdelhalim Elmessaoudi TUNISIE-DIRECT.COM
In this free adaptation of the Greek myth, we draw on the eroding infrastructures of fact in a digital world to re-imagine the Medea for an era of tech-driven authoritarianism.
The text portrays Medea as an educated and outspoken Arab emigre, a post-colonial 'barbarian' subject, at deep odds with the contemporary world around her, driven to re-enact the violence of modernity within the realms of her own family unit.
Corinth is a dangerous littoral in which the fiercely secular public order is whipped into a frenzy of xenophobia by the arrival of migrants on small boats and the populist political agendas of its leader, Creon.
Jason is the aspirational outsider, who chooses to divorce Medea in order to secure advancement inside Corinth, by marrying the ruler's daughter.
It is within this vivid allegorical territory that Medea transforms her domestic troubles into a series of impassioned songs for an embattled minority.
Songs of discontent and injury that, when relayed to the communities of migrants, sequestered in camps on the edge of the city, become the rallying cry for an uprising with devastating consequences.
An initial draft of this text was developed during my fellowship on the Visiting Global Faculty Programme at The Gallatin School of Individualised Study, New York University, in 2017, during which I had the opportunity to teach my reading of this work alongside the marvellous Classics Professor, Laura Slatkin.
My decision to step into the scenic space and present myself as the author as part of the characters on stage, is a direct result of my thinking about the relationship between writing and acting during the period of the Covid 19 pandemic.
Contrary to the previous iteration of this production- that was much more operatic in scale- I chose to reduce the stage elements to their absolute minimum, in an exploration of minimalism, poetic density and abstraction.
As a result, the work is also an exploration of the biographical imaginary and the stage becomes a mirror of many layered stories.
As with previous productions, I continue to refuse nationalist boundaries by drawing together a talented team of actors and scenic artists from across the Arab World and beyond. I M E D E A is the second production in a trilogy of works inspired by ancient texts, following UR (2018).
Sulayman Al Bassam
Awards.
Sulayman Al Bassam, Best text award, Journées théâtrales de Carthage (JTC). Tunis, 2021
Eric soyer, Best scenography Award, Journées théâtrales de Carthage (JTC). Tunis 2021
Hala Omran, Best actress award, Journées théâtrales de Carthage (JTC). Tunis 2021
Hala Omran, Best actress award, Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theatre. Cairo 2021
Performances.
Journées théâtrales de Carthage (JTC). Tunis (Le 4ème Art, 9 December 2021).
Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theatre. Cairo (Hanager Arts Center, Opera House, 15-16 December 2021).
Beirut (Al Madina Theatre ,28-30 January 2022.
Kuwait (Yarmouk Cultural Centre - Dar al Athar al Islamiyyah, 26 March 2022).
Arabisches Theatertreffen Hannover (Pavillon Hannover, 8 & 9 June 2022).
Naples Festival (Teatro Politeama , 2 July 2022).
Requiem For Justice Festival, Mexico City, Mexico (Centro Culturel del Bosco 27, 28 October 2022).
The 13th edition of the Arab Theater Festival, The Arab Theater Festival, The Arab Theater Institute (ATI), Casablanca, Morocco (Thêatre Mohammed VI, 14 January 2023).
Journées théâtrales de Carthage (JTC). Tunis (Le 4ème Art, 1 April 2023).
