MEDOUSA - a miniature opera

Following the critically acclaimed production The Magdalene Mysteries, Vocal Motions Elastic Theatre revisits the myth of Medousa, in the company’s visually stunning cross between dance-theatre and contemporary opera.

 It’s dusk. Having desecrated the temple of Athena in a lustful encounter with Poseidon, Medousa realises that by the end of that same night she is to be turned into a monstrous creature by the jealous goddess. As she awaits Athena’s revenge, foreboding her own body’s terrifying transformation, she foresees Perseus in search for her, determined to use her petrifying gaze as a weapon of his own. Yet the waiting is strangely exciting. As her punishment approaches, the prospect of the evil powers she is about to receive entices her increasingly. MEDOUSA’ s score is, unusually for opera, the product of a collaborative devising process explored through improvisation based on Jacek Ludwig Scarso’s original libretto.

Officially launched at the Arts Arena conference held at the American University of Paris in March 2009, the piece premiered in August at  Tete a Tete - The Opera Festival at Riverside Studios, and was also presented as part of a double bill with the company’s new dance-theatre work, The Passion of Saints Sergius and Bacchus. A site-specific version of the piece was uniquely created at the beautiful chapel of the Pave D’Orsay in Paris (October 2009), in collaboration with the Arts Arena and the Bilingual Acting Workshop.

“Haunting…snakily neurotic…fabulously hot-blooded performance” The Times ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

“Imaginative…bursts of lyricism…an experiment worth pursuing“ The Daily Telegraph

Supported by The Facility: Performance as Research and the HALE Department at London Metropolitan University. With thanks to Tete a Tete - The Opera Festival and the Arts Arena (American University of Paris). This production is part of the company’s touring repertoire - for enquiries, please contact us

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Photo credit: Jovita Valaityte and Claire Shovelton