National Theatre Live: Medea

The film shows a stage play as it was performed. The play is Euripides’ Medea. Medea is a wife and the mother of two sons. She left her own homeland for her husband Jason. She has raised her two boys in exile. Jason leaves the family for a new life. Medea faces banishment. Separation from her children comes onto the table. She is driven into a corner. She is granted one day. That one day is enough for her. Her revenge is heavy and beyond return. She destroys everything she holds dear. The staging stands close to the present. The actors play in modern dress. Helen McCrory and Michaela Coel appear in the ninety minute film, a British production Ross MacGibbon finished in 2014.