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MEDEA
Translated by Marianne McDonald

A Woman
A Man A Fight for Honor
Euripides' "Medea"
The Passionate Clash
That Shaped Modern Drama is Back

Directed by Ruff Yeager

Ruff Yeager (Director/Sound Design/Set Design) Monique Gaffney (Medea) John DeCarlo (Jason) Steven Jensen (Creon) John Martin (Aegeus) Darlene Cleary (Nurse) Joseph Dionisio (Tutor/Messenger) Allison Finn (Chorus) Cat McEvilly (Stage Manager) Mitchell Simkovski (Light Designer) Jamie Lloyd (Costume Designer) Ian Radcliffe (Set Construction) Dale Morris (Producer) Sixth@Penn Theatre Opens Oct. 11 and plays through Nov. 11 Thurs - Sat, 8pm Sunday - 2pm Low-priced previews Sat Oct. 6, 8pm; Sun. Oct. 7, 2pm; Tues. Oct. 9, 8pm; Wed. Oct. 10, 8pm

Critics
6th @ Penn has given Medea an intensely stylized production, so strikingly reminiscent of Sledgehammer Theatre’s style... The translation by Dr. Marianne McDonald (who dramatized her own life at 6th @ Penn in the unforgettable The Last Class) falls easily off the tongues of the actors without being overly colloquial… Medea at 6th @ Penn is as good as local theatre ever gets, if not better…. The combination of Gaffney’s intensity, Yeager’s thoughtful direction and McDonald’s deep understanding of Greek drama and how to bring it to life for a modern audience make this Medea a production to be treasured — and not to be missed.
- Mark Gabrish Conlan, Zenger’s Newsmagazine -
Medea Sixth at Penn Theatre offers up a lovely morsel of Greek tragedy (Medea) that not only satisfies the hunger but allows the flavor to remain on the palate for a long duration….Marianne McDonald’s translation moored this story with language that appropriately captured and then tamed the words that underscored Medea’s mandate for blood…. Yeager’s astute set design ran contrary to conventional thought; however, it succeeded brilliantly….This production should be heralded as one of the finest efforts to date at the 6th at Penn Theatre; this ‘blood of roses’ rendering would make Euripides proud.
- Cuauhtémoc Kish for San Diego Theatre Scene -
Ruff Yaeger directs Marianne McDonald’s splendid translation of Euripides’ Medea through Nov. 11 at 6th@Penn Theatre.
love and betrayal, passion and hatred, murder and misery – Euripides gives us human nature writ large and a situation not uncommon today. McDonald’s lovely translation – smooth, accessible, modern, without being slangy – brings Euripides even closer.
Jean Lowerison, Gay and Lesbian Times
Of all the murderous Greek heroines, only Medea wreaks the ultimate revenge. And then, though self-consumed by sorrow, she gets off scot-free.
Martha Graham's classic piece – and Noguchi's stage designs – came immediately to mind watching director Ruff Yeager's staging of “Medea” at Sixth@Penn Theatre. The Asian influences in the minimalist stage design and the gestural detail of Monique Gaffney's fine performance as Medea turn this staging into a chilling, often intense dance of death. A lucid, contemporary translation by Marianne McDonald is another plus; the words never call attention to themselves, but allow the actors to speak easefully in a style midway between the declamatory and the realistic.
- Anne Marie Welsh, San Diego Union-Tribune -
Fans of classic Greek theater have had much to feast on during the past five years.
UC San Diego classics and theater professor Marianne McDonald has translated and adapted numerous works by Euripides, Aeschylus, Sophocles and Aristophanes that have been produced at theaters all over San Diego.
Once Medea makes her fateful decision, she gilds herself in tribal facepaint and explodes into an evocative African-style war dance.
This blending of cultures and skin colors gives a contemporary edge to the story and makes clear the play's central point ---- that in war, there are no victors, and vengeance (especially against the innocent and helpless) is rarely justified.
Monique Gaffney's bold, seething performance is the centerpiece of the drama. She's icy, imperious, devious and roaring in her rage.
McDonald's lean translation keeps the action hurtling forward to its brutal end, and Yeager's direction ---- along with his set, sound and projection design ---- is focused and thoughtfully developed.
- PAM KRAGEN, North County Times -