Medea
Directed by Zishan Ugurlu
Technology designed and developed by CultureHub
Performed by the Great Jones Repertory Company
Medea is a borderless Tekhne Epic for live audiences in person and online conceived by La MaMa's Great Jones Repertory Company, CultureHub, and Zishan Ugurlu. The epic tells the story of Medea, a refugee whose reality is shattered when she learns of her and her children's looming exile, investigating parallels between the myth and the current refugee crisis by collaging real stories, ancient tongues, and hackable audiovisual systems.
A major part of the production is a reimagining of La MaMa’s Medea which was originally composed by the late Elizabeth Swados with direction by Andrei Serban for the company’s celebrated 1972 presentation. The work is experienced in three parts, and the stark, embodied performance is counterpoint to the rich media and technology landscape.
Presented in La MaMa’s recently-renovated 74A E. 4 St. building, Medea unfolds across 3 floors and leverages the building-wide data network to break past the walls of the theatre. Using custom-built interactive technologies, an online audience will affect audio, video, and lighting elements throughout the show. The in-person and online versions follow the same story but are distinctly different iterations that allow audiences to attend both experiences for a deeper look into the world of the production.
Medea is conceived by the Great Jones Repertory Company, CultureHub, and Zishan Ugurlu, with direction by Zishan Ugurlu and media/technology design and development by CultureHub. The production is performed by the Great Jones Repertory Company with Mia Yoo in the title role, along with Arthur Adair, Mattie Barber-Bockelman, Buffy, Sheree V. Campbell, Billy Clark, Katherine de la Cruz, maura donohue nguyen, George Drance, Bejunior Fallon, Sara Galassini, Cary Gant, John Maria Gutierrez, Onni Johnson, Valois Mickens, lim mui, eugene the poogene, Kiku Sakai, Kim Savarino, Evan Ray Suzuki, Nick Swensen, Juan Pablo Toro, and Morgan Medina-Wild with David Grimaldo, Marco Saavedra, Edafe Okporo. Music direction by Bill Ruyle with musicians Heather Paauwe and Nick Swensen. Dramaturgy by Morgan Jenness. Alexandro Délano Alonso worked with the company for Immigration Consultation.
Workshops, research, and interviews have occurred with recent migrant communities coming into New York City. Some of the organizations involved in the project are Make the Road New York, the Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility, and the New York State Youth Leadership Council.
The livestream will be produced using LiveLab Broadcaster, a browser based low-latency livestreaming platform that allows for real time interactions with online audiences. The open-source project is supported and used by CultureHub and NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program. It has been used by CultureHub and La MaMa in the following productions: Take 21 (2022), A Few Deep Breaths (2022), Fractals of Prometheus (2023) and Downtown Variety Ukraine Edition (2023).
Photo by Sangmin Chae
Directed by Zishan Ugurlu
Technology designed and developed by CultureHub
Performed by the Great Jones Repertory Company
Zishan Ugurlu is a resident actress and director at La MaMa and a member of the Great Jones Repertory Company. She has performed in numerous productions with the company, including Panorama directed by Italian company Motus. Some recent directorial credits include Fragments, Lists & Lacunae written by Alexandra Chasin featuring Judith Butler, The Franca Rame Project by Dario Fo & Franca Rame and Agamemnon by Aeschylus.
Medea has been developed as part of the Experiments in Digital Storytelling program, which is funded by grants from Radio Drama Network and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Medea is made possible by an additional grant from the National Endowment for the Arts for La MaMa and Great Jones Repertory’s Humanismo: Ancient Futures Series, as well as support from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Additional support for this engagement is provided by The Audience Building Project, a program of the Lake Placid Center for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts with support from the Governor and New York State Legislature.
CultureHub
CultureHub pushes the boundaries of artistic collaboration and experimentation as an incubator for creativity focused on the intersection of art and technology. We serve local and global communities by providing an open space for creative research, artistic exchange and learning.
Online Happenings
Presented by La MaMa and CultureHub, La MaMa is exploring ways to respond creatively to a situation that is potentially changing how we gather as a community in our theatres. La MaMa is working with CultureHub to provide online streaming of select productions and events on Howlround Theatre Commons.
Great Jones Repertory Company
La MaMa’s Great Jones Repertory Company (GJRC) is an intergenerational ensemble of diverse artists, pioneering new forms of storytelling through radical physicality, voice, and movement.