Washington's Greek Chorus

In 'Medea' et al., Tragedy of Epic Proportions

Washington is awash in Greek tragedy -- and we do not refer to that contentious amphitheater of the free world, Capitol Hill.

The Royal Shakespeare Company's "Hecuba" plays at the Kennedy Center through Sunday, Synetic Theater's "Jason and the Argonauts" runs through June 25 at the Rosslyn Spectrum, and Washington Shakespeare Company's "Medea" is at the Clark Street Playhouse through July 3. Scena Theatre's three-play rep, "Thersites," "I, Cyclops" and "Gladiator," adapted by Artistic Director Robert McNamara from Homer and Roman literature, runs at the Warehouse through July 10.

Synetic and Washington Shakespeare explore in depth and wildly different styles the motives of Medea, the legendary sorceress, healer and, according to Euripides, killer of her children to spite her faithless husband, Jason.

Washington Shakespeare's production of Euripides' tragedy uses a spare, modern translation by Alistair Elliot. Euripides takes up the story after Jason has told Medea he intends to take a new wife, the daughter of King Creon.

The directors -- Jose Carrasquillo and Paul McWhorter -- looked for a "more psychologically dense" translation, Carrasquillo says, that shows "what pushes [Medea] to the plan that will ultimately bring the doom that it does."

Delia Taylor, who plays Medea, describes their approach as "humanist and sympathetic."

"Nobody could condone her actions. We're not doing that, but we're trying to understand them," she says. Her favorite line and one that sums up the production is, "The rage in my heart is stronger than my reason."

McWhorter says, "We just wanted people thinking about her humanity and not thinking of her as this Norma Desmond."

The molten red minimalist set -- a circular platform with a sandy pit at the center -- is intended to imply a volcano -- a metaphor for Medea's passion and rage.

"Simple is never easy," says designer Giorgos Tsappas, who honed the design for months.

Medea's children are puppets with molded fiberglass heads created by Marie Schneggenburger. The production includes no recorded sounds or music. The actors at times do wordless vocal effects.

In Synetic's "Jason," adapted by Suzen Mason from a 19th-century Austrian play, the central visual metaphor is ropes. On designer Georgi Alexi-Meskhishvili's set, they hang ominously over the stage and are used to suggest Jason's ship, the Argo and other props. Medea (played by Irina Tsikurishvili) takes hold of them to kill her babies -- also puppets, but faceless ones of white cloth.