Medea Read online

  MEDEA

  Euripides

  MEDEA

  a new version by Rachel Cusk

  OBERON BOOKS

  LONDON

  WWW.OBERONBOOKS.COM

  First published in 2015 by Oberon Books Ltd

  521 Caledonian Road, London N7 9RH

  Tel: +44 (0) 20 7607 3637 / Fax: +44 (0) 20 7607 3629

  e-mail: [email protected]

  www.oberonbooks.com

  Copyright © Rachel Cusk, 2015

  Rachel Cusk is hereby identified as author of this version in accordance with section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. The author has asserted her moral rights.

  All rights whatsoever in this play are strictly reserved and application for performance etc. should be made before commencement of rehearsal to The Wylie Agency, 17 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3JA ([email protected]). No performance may be given unless a licence has been obtained, and no alterations may be made in the title or the text of the play without the author’s prior written consent.

  You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or binding or by any means (print, electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

  A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  PB ISBN: 978-1-78319-887-0

  EPUB ISBN: 978-1-78319-888-7

  Photograph by David Stewart

  Printed, bound and converted

  by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY.

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  Contents

  Characters

  Scene 1

  Scene 2

  Scene 3

  Scene 4

  Scene 5

  Scene 6

  Scene 7

  Scene 8

  Scene 9

  Scene 10

  Scene 11

  Scene 13

  Scene 14

  Scene 15

  Scene 16

  Scene 17

  Scene 18

  Scene 19

  Characters

  NURSE

  TUTOR

  MEDEA

  JASON

  CLEANER

  WOMAN 1/2/3/4/5

  BOY 1/2

  CREON

  AEGEUS

  This adaptation was commissioned by and originally produced at the Almeida, where it had its first performance on Friday 25 September, 2015.

  Company

  CLEANER

  Michele Austin

  NURSE

  Amanda Boxer

  AEGEUS

  Richard Cant

  CREON/TUTOR

  Andy de la Tour

  MEDEA

  Kate Fleetwood

  MESSENGER/CHORUS

  Charlotte Randle

  JASON

  Justin Salinger

  CHORUS

  Sarah Belcher

  Ruth Everett

  Georgina Lamb

  Emily Mytton

  BOYS

  Guillermo Bedward

  Xavier Moras Spencer

  Lukas Rolfe

  Louis Sayers

  Samuel Smith

  Joseph West

  Creative Team

  Direction

  Rupert Goold

  Set

  Ian MacNeil

  Costume

  Holly Waddington

  Composition and Sound

  Adam Cork

  Light

  Neil Austin

  Choreography

  Scott Ambler

  Casting

  Julia Horan CDG

  Assistant Direction

  Sara Joyce

  Costume Supervision

  Deborah Andrews

  Trainee Director

  David Loumgair

  SCENE 1

  NURSE

  She says she’s not hungry.

  Pause.

  That’s a lovely piece of chicken she’s let go to waste. It’s grilled you know, not fried. She’s very particular about that. But this was grilled – no fat on it at all.

  It’s from the butcher’s – it isn’t supermarket meat. I know she’s particular about that. I went all the way up to the butcher’s for it on Market Hill.

  I hate to see decent food go to waste. You should have seen some of the things I was expected to eat as a child. Vegetables all covered in black spots! The thing was, you had to eat them – in those days you had no choice.

  MEDEA can be heard crying.

  I’ve told her, crying won’t bring him back. Besides, it’s very ageing. But you can’t reason with her – you never could. It’s like trying to reason with a rock. The trouble is, she’s got no self-control.

  Pause.

  Such a waste! I wouldn’t eat my dinner once, and my father picked it up and crammed it in my mouth. No, she doesn’t get her way by crying. I said to her, you’re not a child any more. You’re a grown woman with two children of your own – whatever will people think? I said to her, pull yourself together for their sake!

  TUTOR

  My mother said children ruin your life.

  NURSE

  I said to her, all that feminism you went in for! You always gave the impression you could manage just as well without him, and now look at you – sobbing like a schoolgirl with a broken heart! Equal this and equal that – I said to her, the trouble was you let him think he could do as he pleased. Frankly I never saw what was ‘feminine’ about it. It’s just another word for girls keeping dirty habits.

  TUTOR

  My mother said it’s men that are the dirty ones.

  NURSE

  I said to her, there’s a reason men and women have always lived as they do – because it’s in their interests to live that way. But you thought you could do things differently, I said. You used to laugh at me, I said, but who’s laughing now? I said to her, you can’t just come back saying it was all a mistake. You’ve made your bed, I said.

  TUTOR

  My mother called it disgusting, what my father did to her in in bed.

  NURSE

  There’s no point wishing things had been different – you can’t turn back time! Particularly when there are children: there’s no denying them. I said to her, if you haven’t learned by now that as a mother you come last, then you’re in for a bumpy ride.

  TUTOR

  She said when I was born I broke her insides.

  NURSE

  I said to her, I could have told you but you wouldn’t have listened. She never did listen to me. The trouble was you spoiled her. You couldn’t keep your hands off her.

  TUTOR

  I’m a dirty pig.

  NURSE

  It’s no wonder she feels sorry for herself. You let her think she was important.

  MEDEA appears and sits on TUTOR’s lap.

  People like us never considered divorce, you know. We never took ourselves that seriously.

  MEDEA

  Why not?

  NURSE

  Children don’t need to hear about their parents’ dirt. You ought to tidy yourself up, put some make-up on and pull yourself together for their sake. They’re not to blame, poor lambs. They’re as clean and innocent as a pair of snowdrops.

  TUTOR

  My mother said men were dirty pigs.

  MEDEA

  Did she love you?

  NURS
E

  What a question! Mothers always love their children.

  TUTOR

  She let me suck her titties, to bring on her milk for the baby.

  MEDEA

  Then she must have loved you in a way.

  TUTOR

  She hated your mother.

  NURSE

  It wasn’t me she hated, it was you. She hated all men.

  TUTOR

  She said she wished I’d never been born.

  MEDEA

  Do you feel anything for her now?

  TUTOR

  Nothing. When I think about her, I feel nothing at all.

  SCENE 2

  A middle class, vaguely bohemian domestic space. There is a kitchen on one side and a large sofa in the middle. The room is empty. A telephone rings and the message is recorded.

  JASON

  It’s – ah – it’s me. Look, about yesterday – the thing is, we’ve just got to stop this ridiculous fighting. It’s bad for us and bad for the – ah – boys. You’re getting – it’s just getting completely out of control. Look, the thing is, you’ve really got to try to control your anger. We both know that’s a big – ah – a challenge for you. But you’ve got to start accepting some responsibility for what’s happened. I mean, it’s not like this has come from nowhere. There are always, always two sides. (Pause.) I mean, anyone would think we were the first couple ever to get divorced but it’s actually – I mean, thousands of people get divorced every day. It’s actually incredibly, incredibly common. (Pause.) Look, all I want is what’s fair. You know what the legal position is. We each get half of everything. I’ve told the lawyer to expect the forms, so call me if there’s anything you don’t understand. Okay?

  SCENE 3

  A group of WOMEN holding dolls and coffee cups.

  WOMAN 1

  I can’t function this morning. I’m like, where’s the caffeine IV?

  WOMAN 2

  Shall we take off your coat?

  WOMAN 3

  The guys were back early last night.

  WOMAN 2

  Is it too hot in here? Shall Mummy take off your coat?

  WOMAN 3

  Joe said hardly anyone turned up.

  WOMAN 4

  You know I’m doing this fasting thing?

  WOMAN 3

  He says it’s really hard.

  WOMAN 1

  I’ve told you about next door, right?

  WOMAN 4

  It’s only eight fifteen and I’m bloody starving.

  WOMAN 1

  One in the morning they start up.

  WOMAN 2

  Shall Mummy get you a babycino?

  WOMAN 3

  The thing is, everyone’s just so busy.

  WOMAN 1

  I’m like, look, I know we’re not working to a timetable here –

  WOMAN 2

  Would you like that?

  WOMAN 1

  – but you know, can you please just split up?

  WOMAN 3

  He thinks maybe men find it harder to prioritise friendship.

  WOMAN 1

  I’ll call the lawyer, I’ll fill in the forms, I’ll do it all.

  WOMAN 4

  What can you have when you’re fasting?

  WOMAN 1

  Just let me get some sleep!

  WOMAN 3

  That’s the thing about men’s groups.

  WOMAN 4

  Almond croissant – do you think they do that without the almonds?

  WOMAN 3

  They sort of just fizzle out.

  WOMAN 4

  Or the croissant?

  WOMAN 3

  The thing is, everyone’s just really tired on a weeknight.

  Pause. WOMEN jiggle dolls and drink coffee.

  WOMAN 5

  Derek said he had a right laugh on Friday.

  WOMAN 1

  Was that with – you know – (Whisper.) the husband?

  WOMAN 5

  Amazebags house, apparently.

  WOMAN 4

  Isn’t that the one –

  WOMAN 3

  I didn’t know Derek knew him.

  WOMAN 4

  – that was on TV?

  WOMAN 5

  He sees him a bit through work, you know –

  WOMAN 3

  Oh, work.

  WOMAN 5

  – just, you know, yeah. Work.

  WOMAN 1

  I heard it was, you know, massive.

  WOMAN 5

  He says he isn’t stand-offish at all.

  WOMAN 4

  I’m sure I saw it on TV.

  WOMAN 5

  I mean, given who he is and everything.

  WOMAN 1

  I wonder how much a house like that actually costs.

  WOMAN 5

  His new woman’s loaded, apparently.

  WOMAN 4

  I just can’t remember the programme.

  WOMAN 5

  Derek said it was, you know –

  WOMAN 3

  Do you think Joe should approach him –

  WOMAN 5

  Bollinger all night.

  WOMAN 3

  – to join the men’s group?

  WOMAN 5

  They’ve got a pool in the basement.

  WOMAN 4

  Or do you think it could be Alzheimer’s?

  WOMAN 5

  So at midnight they’re all absolutely pissed and swimming around together in this pool.

  WOMAN 2

  In their clothes?

  WOMAN 5

  Starkers, apparently.

  WOMAN 4

  Was there any food?

  WOMAN 5

  And he starts talking about this really big thing he’s up for.

  WOMAN 2

  Isn’t her dad –

  WOMAN 5

  Derek swore me to secrecy.

  WOMAN 2

  – something big in the film industry?

  WOMAN 1

  So she’s got the body and the connections.

  WOMAN 5

  This goes no further, right?

  They confer in whispers.

  WOMAN 2

  Oh my God.

  WOMAN 1

  Talk about a good career move.

  WOMAN 4

  She must wonder if it’s her he’s after, or – you know?

  WOMAN 3

  I really don’t think –

  WOMAN 1

  God, men are such sods.

  WOMAN 3

  – we should be making those kinds of allegations.

  Pause.

  WOMAN 1

  Did Derek meet her?

  WOMAN 5

  He said she came in later.

  WOMAN 4

  Apparently she’s –

  WOMAN 3

  Were they dressed?

  WOMAN 4

  – some kind of model.

  WOMAN 5

  Were who?

  WOMAN 3

  By the time she came in. Were they dressed?

  WOMAN 1

  She’s quite young, apparently.

  WOMAN 4

  Well that’s original.

  WOMAN 5

  Derek says she’s absolutely gorgeous.

  WOMAN 2

  Derek’s such a love.

  WOMAN 3

  I did think the husband seemed like a really nice guy.

  WOMAN 5

  It’s the ex-wife who’s a bit, you know –

  WOMAN 1

  I know what you mean.

  WOMAN 5

  It’s funny how some women just – they just sort of don’t –

  WOMAN 1

  – fit in.

  WOMAN 5

  I mean, it feels awful to say it, but you kind of feel –

  WOMAN 3

  – she brought it on herself.

  WOMAN 1

  You want to say, you know, I’m sure it’s hard –

  WOMAN 5

  You just sort of can’t –


  WOMAN 1

  – but we’ve all been there. Do you know what I mean?

  WOMAN 5

  – really sympathise with someone like that.

  WOMAN 4

  I mean, when I met you guys for example, I instantly felt –

  WOMAN 1

  You want to say, you know to some extent –

  WOMAN 4

  – you were on my side.

  WOMAN 1

  – just get over yourself.

  Pause.

  WOMAN 5

  I mean, you just sort of know, don’t you?

  WOMAN 4

  I mean, nobody’s judging here, are they?

  WOMAN 1

  Nobody’s saying, you know –

  WOMAN 2

  – it’s harder for me.

  WOMAN 4

  Are they?

  MEDEA has entered at a distance.

  WOMAN 1

  Have you seen her lately?

  WOMAN 5

  She’s gone very Belsen.

  WOMAN 2

  Isn’t she a writer?

  WOMAN 4

  It’s called the divorce diet.

  WOMAN 1

  You do have to feel a bit sorry for her.

  WOMAN 4

  Apparently you lose two pounds for every year it lasted.

  WOMAN 1

  Do you know what I mean?

  WOMAN 5

  I said hello to her at the school gate the other day –

  WOMAN 2

  She’s quite well known apparently.

  WOMAN 5

  – and she absolutely blanked me.

  WOMAN 4

  I suppose if I’m really desperate –

  WOMAN 2

  I’ve never read anything she’s written.

  WOMAN 4

  – I could try it.

  WOMAN 1

  Apparently she had no idea he was even having an affair.

  WOMAN 5

  I thought, you know, snooty cow –

  WOMAN 3

  How could she not have known –

  WOMAN 2

  I think it’s quite –

  WOMAN 3

  – her husband was having an affair?

  WOMAN 2

  – heavy.

  WOMAN 5

  – get a grip, you’re not the only one –

  WOMAN 3

  I mean, how can you not know?

  WOMAN 5

  – with problems?