Feel the searing female rage and gaze of MEDUSA

The historic emblem of female rage is reclaimed and brandished in all its glory in MEDUSA, created by visionary feminist theatre makers Nisha Madhan, Julia Croft and Virginia Frankovich. MEDUSA premieres at Circa Theatre Sept 20 – Oct 6, before moving north to Q Theatre Oct 24 – Nov 3 as the fourth work in the powerful MATCHBOX 2018 Season.

The original myth of Medusa follows the fate of the beautiful maiden Medusa who is turned into a monster by the goddess Athena after she is raped by Poseidon in Athena’s temple. Her hair is turned into snakes and her face becomes so terrible to behold that to look directly at her would turn the onlooker to stone. The story has inspired this theatrical exploration of female rage, violence, eroticism and the search for a feminism of the monstrous.

MEDUSA aims to deconstruct this historic tale while challenging stagnant societal attitudes towards feminism. In the midst of the #metoo revelations, MEDUSA actively protests the idea that the feminist political position is nothing more than a commodity, reflecting the fury that many women living in contemporary New Zealand feel. Central to the creation of MEDUSA is the potential for art to become a form of activism, where art is an opportunity to address salient world issues affecting real people.

With the Wellington season opening two days after the 125th anniversary of the first women in Aotearoa earning the right to vote, there has never been a more fitting time for MEDUSA to channel the fury of women who are enraged at the limits being forced on them by our culture over a century after suffrage in New Zealand.

MEDUSA is the result of the ongoing collaborative creative relationship between acclaimed feminist theatre makers Virginia Frankovich (If There’s Not Dancing At The Revolution I’m not Coming, Fuck Rant, The Plastic Orgasm, Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again), Julia Croft (Power Ballad, Body Double, The Plastic Orgasm and If There’s Not Dancing At The Revolution I’m not Coming) and Nisha Madhan (Fuck Rant, Power Ballad, Titled, LIES). MEDUSA will involve a multidisciplinary collage of deconstructed theatricality, dance, sonic composition and performance art.

The trio have worked together since 2013 and through a variety of projects they have developed a shared process and practice which they continue to refine both collectively and in their individual practice. MEDUSA is presented and produced by Zanetti Productions, who has acted as creative producer on a number of these projects and has been key to their critical and commercial success. Joining the creative team will be sound designer Claire Duncan (i.e. crazy, Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again), Meg Rollandi (WATCH, Force Field, Burn Her) on performance design, Calvin Hudson (If There’s Not Dancing At The Revolution, Power Ballad, The Plastic Orgasm) as lighting designer, production manager Ruby Reihana-Wilson, and Kate Prior (Pantograph Punch, Power Ballad) as dramaturg.

MEDUSA will be produced with the help of Creative New Zealand and Circa Theatre and is proudly part of Q Theatre’s MATCHBOX 2018 programme.

Medusa was first produced at Circa Theatre, Wellington on 21st September 2018.

“Postmodern performance art meets power pop politics – powerfully delivered.”
– Total Theatre UK (If There’s Not Dancing at the Revolution, I’m Not Coming)

“It's fascinating, clever and visceral; its sexual, sensual and delicious; it's funny, angry, wild and punishing.” – TheatreReview (Power Ballad)

MEDUSA plays:

Circa Theatre, Wellington as part of WTF! 2018 and New Zealand Theatre Month
Friday September 21 – Saturday October 6
Preview: Thursday Sept 20
Buy tickets from Circa Theatre

Loft, Q Theatre, Auckland as part of the MATCHBOX 2018 season
Thursday October 25 – Saturday November 3
Preview: Wednesday October 24
Buy tickets from Q Theatre

© Scoop Media