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Speaking Of The Power Of Stories

I note that my last two posts both dealt with plays that revolved around the power of stories to annex our lives to them, whether for better or for worse. If that’s the sort of thing you like, and you are comfortable with going way over to the “for worse” end of the spectrum, then […]

I note that my last two posts both dealt with plays that revolved around the power of stories to annex our lives to them, whether for better or for worse. If that’s the sort of thing you like, and you are comfortable with going way over to the “for worse” end of the spectrum, then I strongly recommend a little one-man show called Another Medea.

Written and directed by Aaron Mark, and performed by Tom Hewitt, the play is framed as a research project into the story of a man convicted of killing his children after being dumped unceremoniously by his long-time lover for a younger man. After a brief introduction, Hewitt shifts from playing the researcher to playing the research subject, from whose perspective we hear the story. The murderer didn’t just play out the story of Medea, he played it out consciously – was moved to murder in part by the consciousness that his life had recapitulated Medea’s story.

You’d think the story of a gay actor who always wanted to play Medea on-stage and winds up living out her story in real life would come off as horribly contrived, but I found the play to be quite moving and believable – particularly in the ways in which it captured the self-involved delusions of the man who would be Medea.

In any event, the play is likely to pop up here and there over time, so keep a lookout.

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