Preview: Medea by Cake Theatrical Productions

Cake is no stranger to adapting famous, tragic Greek figures; just last year they produced the award-winning, all-star production of Electra, which starred Edith Podesta as the eponymous heroine. It’s no wonder then that they’ll be continuing their winning streak and adapting a different Greek heroine this time – the doomed sorceress Medea.

The figure of Medea has been adapted countless times in theatre, most famously by Greek tragedian Euripedes, and more recently, by Korean theatre group Seongbukdong Beedoolkee during the 2014 Singapore International Festival of the Arts (Medea on Media). Most productions of Medea focus on her as a marginalized figure and as an outsider, a strange in her own home and embodying the figure of the vengeful woman who achieves recrimination for her unfaithful husband Jason by killing their children.

Helming Cake’s new production of Medea is artistic director Natalie Hennedige, who both wrote and directed the play. Cake’s production will focus on the tragedy of Medea’s solitude, left a displaced woman after her husband deserts her to marry another, slated for exile. Playing Medea will be celebrated, multi-award winning actress Siti Khalijah Zainal, who will transform Medea’s bitter anguish into torrential revenge, raining blood upon her enemies and shocking the populace with her violence.

Siti K’s fearful and awe-inspiring role will be supported by an equally talented cast, consisting Al-Matin Yatim, Ghafir Akbar, Sharda Harrison, Shafie Mohaideen, Suhaili Safari and Lian Sutton, along with frequent Cake collaborators Brian Gothong Tan, Philip Tan, Andy Lim and in-house design collective neontights on the production side.

Cake has never disappointed us with the incredible design and innovation that goes into their productions, often thoughtful, abstract works that will tear at your emotional core in the most unexpected of ways, bringing out the full extent of tragedy in each work. No doubt this production of Medea will be an equally powerful one, as audiences watch a woman driven to desperation, yet still a warped symbol of defiance and strength, a complicated character you will love, hate and never forget. 

Medea plays at the Drama Centre Black Box from 12th – 14th October. To book, email admin@caketheatre.com

Medea
When: 12 & 13 Oct, 8pm, 14 Oct, 3pm & 8pm
Where: Drama Centre Black Box