Theatre Performs “Medea”, the Classic Greek Tragedy
“Medea”, the first production of McMurry Theatre’s 2026-27 season, was presented two weeks ago. The play is a Greek Tragedy, originally written by the famous playwright Euripides, but McMurry produced the modern adaptation written by Robinson Jeffers. This challenging show pushed many cast and crew members to try new things, whether that meant playing complicated characters, building difficult set pieces, using flash paper on props to create smoke, or dyeing the costumes to the right shade.
Kari Perkins, the costuming artist in residence, did an incredible job costuming this production. She designed costumes for all eighteen characters, and created them with the help of student costumer Mia McKean. When asked about her inspiration for the designs, she stated that she was most inspired by “…some imagery I found while researching Medea and Ancient Greece. I found a striking photo of Maria Callas in the title role in the 1969 film, which shaped my idea to create a more contemporary and abstract style for the costumes.” Her biggest challenge during the costuming process was achieving the colors she was looking for with the dye. She says that “There are so many variables that affect the color-hard water, the way the fabric takes the dye, and the type of mordant (binder) used. I dyed a few garments many times to achieve the rich color I was looking for.” Lastly, when asked what part of her design was the most successful, she felt like the entire design came together to help tell the story, “From Medea’s deep red dress and long cape, her frustration and sorrow, to the more contemporary touches of the pants and layers on the king and Aegeus- overall helping to tell a more timeless and approachable story”.
The director and set designer of this tragedy was Assistant Professor and Chair of Theatre Neena McLain. She selected this classic play because she thinks that giving students a chance to experience classic theatre is very important to a liberal arts education. She states that beyond that, “Medea has very interesting and complicated characters and tells an interesting and complicated story, which are so great for actors to create.” The most challenging part of directing and designing the production was the very short rehearsal time. She states that, “A lot of work goes into producing a show, and if not for the outstanding commitment from our department to get the work done, it would not have come together. I truly appreciate the work from Zack Frizzell, Kari Perkins, and all of our majors and minors who came together to make this show happen.” Medea is a very complicated story, and she hopes the audience left the performance discussing several things: “Did Medea love her children? Who was the villain, Jason, Medea, or Creon? Was there a villain? Also, this is an ancient story; women have more rights today. If written today, would Medea have made a different choice?”
This play will always be very special to me because I had the honor of playing Medea as my senior project. Gabriel Pyenta, who played the role of Jason, also performed the role as his senior project. The two of us, along with Neena, had many conversations about our characters’ relationships and the difficult themes throughout the script. I truly have never experienced a show this challenging and out of my comfort zone. Through the rehearsal process, I had to get over a lot of self-doubt and fear. I have never had a lead role to this extent, and I had never acted as such a dark and complicated character. Not only did this difficult character push me to levels I’ve never experienced, but I have never been so grateful for an acting opportunity. In past shows, I have felt like myself on stage, aware of how tired I am, how many people are in the audience, and personal things going on in my life. During these rehearsals and performances, I was able to let that all go and focus my mind fully on Medea’s thoughts, feelings, tone, and physicality. I am so proud of the show’s success, and I think that we all told the story very well. One of the most satisfying parts for me was hearing audience members’ feedback at the end. Many people got emotional and found the ending very shocking, which means we did a great job!
If you’d like to hear Gabe and me talk more about the play and our thoughts on the production, listen to our news interview from KTAB 4U! For all things McMurry Theatre-related, be sure to follow mcmtheatre on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. The next production coming up is the Homecoming Musical, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”! All information about the performance and the department can be found in the McMurry Theatre Linktree.