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Medea

“Logic is a good servant but a bad master”

Declan Donnellan

Written by Euripides
Performed in Bulgarian
Running time 55 minutes, no interval

“The name Medea can conjure up the image of a screaming murderous monster from antiquity. But Euripides brings Medea’s experience uncomfortably close to home. His Medea is a very real woman facing what to her seems an intolerable predicament. She fears she is facing total humiliation, which to her amounts to annihilation. Her solution is extreme but not unheard of in today’s world. We think what she does is overly emotional and irrational, but in fact the appalling deed is the result of the application of strict logic. Maybe this is a timely warning to our world increasingly obsessed, as it is, with algorithms of efficiency and artificial intelligence, just to hang onto our common sense and ordinary decency at all costs. Logic is a good servant but a bad master.”

—Declan Donnellan, Artistic Director, on Medea

In October 2024, Artistic Directors Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod teamed up with the “Ivan Vazov” National Theatre of Bulgaria to create a new version of Euripides’ fierce tragedy Medea.

While this is Cheek by Jowl’s first Bulgarian-language production, the company has a long history with Bulgarian artists and audiences. Cheek by Jowl made its first visit to Bulgaria in 1987 with Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, visiting again in 1994 with As You Like It and in 2023 with Life is a Dream.

Tickets

DateLocationTickets
09 January, 2025Sofia, BulgariaTickets
08 February, 2025Sofia, BulgariaTickets
13 February, 2025Sofia, BulgariaTickets
20 February, 2025Sofia, BulgariaTickets
21 February, 2025Sofia, BulgariaTickets

Cast

Name
Radina Kardzhilova
Velislav Pavlov
Valentin Ganev
Asen Dankov
Yavor Valkanov
Stelian Radev
Vyara Tabakova
Radena Valkanova
Joreta Nikolova
Stafania Koleva
Elena Ivanova
Nadya Keranova
Ana Papadopolu
Children: Nikola Sarzhev, Petar Sardzhev, Boris Petrishki and Boyan Chelebiev

Creative Team

RoleName
DirectorDeclan Donnellan
DesignerNick Ormerod
Assistant DirectorRafael Bizev
Assistant DesignerMaria Kuncheva
Movement DirectorRosen Mihailov
Assistant Costume DesignerTsetska Ivaylova
Translation from Greek to EnglishLucinda Dawkins
Translation from Greek to BulgarianDorothea Tabakova
Dramaturgical ConsultantMira Todorova
Second Assistant DirectorsElena Kostova, Meglena Dimitrova
TranslatorJohanna Marinova

Previous Performances

DateLocation
11, 18-19 December, 2024Sofia, Ivan Vazov National Theatre, Bulgaria – in repertoire
15-17 November, 2024Sofia, Ivan Vazov National Theatre, Bulgaria – in repertoire
9-12 October, 2024Sofia, Ivan Vazov National Theatre, Bulgaria – in repertoire

Reviews

“A symbiosis between the extraordinary engagement of sight, hearing, touch, smell and the active position of every human body present.”

May Seag, Litvestnik. Read the full review

Production Photography

Maybe this is a timely warning to our world increasingly obsessed, as it is, with algorithms of efficiency and artificial intelligence, just to hang onto our common sense and ordinary decency at all costs.

Declan Donnellan

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