Medea at Belvoir St Theatre

Two young children on a stage play games to distract themselves. Off-stage and unheard their parents are having a very famous showdown. At some inevitable moment in the next hour the children will be drawn away from their games and into their parents’ bitter argument. From there they will enter mythology as the most tragic siblings of all time.

Made specially for the Downstairs Theatre, Anne-Louise Sarks’ refocusing of Medea is an examination of the collateral damage of one of history’s most famous family breakdowns. It is to Euripides’ Medea what Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is to Hamlet: a behind-the-scenes look at the lives that minor characters live before the plot takes over.

Artistic Director of Melbourne’s acclaimed The Hayloft Project, Anne-Louise is a canny and formidable theatrical mind. Her Medea is a smart, sharp and bittersweet look at the fine line that divides regular life and all-out tragedy.