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FREDONIA The 1891 Fredonia Opera House will present a high-definition broadcast of London’s National Theatre production of “Medea” on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Terrible things breed in broken hearts. Medea is a wife and mother. For the sake of her husband, Jason, she leaves her home and bears two sons in exile. But when Jason abandons his family for a new life, Medea faces banishment and separation from her children. Cornered, she begs for one day’s grace – one day – long enough for her to enact an appalling revenge and destroy everything she holds dear.
Captured live in high definition from London’s National Theatre, this production of Euripedes’ powerful tragedy features award-winning British actress Helen McCrory in the title role.
McCrory most recently appeared in the James Bond film “Skyfall,” and this season is seen on television in Showtime’s “Penny Dreadful.” But she is first and foremost a stage actress, having trained at the Drama Centre, in London. She won the Manchester Evening News’ Best Actress Award for her performance in the National Theatre’s “Blood Wedding” and the Ian Charleson award for classical acting for playing Rose Trelawney in “Trelawney of the Wells.”
Her theatre work has continued to win her critical praise and a large fan base through such work as the Royal Shakespeare Company’s “Les Enfant du Paradis” opposite Joseph Fiennes, Rupert Graves and James Purefoy, and the Almeida Theatre’s “The Triumph of Love” opposite Chiwetel Ejiofor. On the small screen, McCrory’s first television film, “Streetlife” with Rhys Ifans, won her the Welsh BAFTA, Monte Carlo Best Actress Award and the Royal Television Society’s Best Actress Award, for her extraordinary performance as “Jo.” The Edinburgh Film Festival called it “simply the best performance this year.”
The National Theatre’s production of “Medea” has been called “thrilling and merciless” with McCrory giving “the performance of her career,” according to London’s The Telegraph. “Of all the scary characters in Greek tragedy, Medea is surely the most terrifying and the one who gets most disturbingly under our skin. Small in stature though she is, McCrory commands the Olivier’s huge stage. She is superbly duplicitous in the scene in which she appears to make amends to Jason even as she plans to kill his new wife.
“At the end of this thrilling and merciless production you leave the theatre feeling both appalled and strangely elated the sure sign that a tragedy has hit its mark.”
London’s National Theatre launched its Live in HD series in June 2009, and since then, has presented more than 20 productions. These broadcasts have been seen by more than 1.5 million people in more than 500 venues around the world. Though each live broadcast is filmed in front of a live audience in the theatre, cameras are carefully positioned throughout the auditorium to ensure that Live in HD audiences get the “best seat in the house” view of each production. Where these cameras are placed is different for each production to make sure that Live in HD audiences enjoy the best possible experience every time.
Tickets to Medea are $15 ($10 for students) and may be purchased in person at the Opera House Box Office or by phone at 7679-1891, Tuesday through Friday, 1-5 p.m. They also may be purchased online any time at www.fredopera.org.
This performance is part of the Opera House’s Live in HD series of events, which is made possible by Dr. James M. and Marcia A. Merrins, who funded the purchase of the satellite transmission and projection equipment used in the series. It also is made possible, in part, with support from the United Arts Appeal of Chautauqua County. Opera House media partners are WDOE-AM and Kix Country 96-FM radio, in Dunkirk.
The 1891 Fredonia Opera House is a member-supported nonprofit organization located in Village Hall in downtown Fredonia. A complete schedule of Opera House events is available at www.fredopera.org.