On 10th June the Varna Summer International Theatre Festival offers a unique opportunity to fully immerse oneself in the world of ancient tragedy, brought to the present day by the legendary British theatrical duo – director Declan Donnellan and designer Nick Ormerod, co-founders of the Cheek by Jowl international theatre company based in London. In one evening, the audience can experience their production of Medea by Euripides, a production by the Ivan Vazov National Theatre, and Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, a production by the Marin Sorescu National Theatre – Craiova, Romania, consecutively. Both performances are in promenade format, with audience members on stage alongside the actors as the space transforms first into Corinth and then into Thebes.
“We are delighted that our two most recent Greek tragedies will be presented together on the same day and in the same space. In fact as far as we can tell the original Medea was performed only a year after the first Oedipus Rex millennia ago in Athens. In a sense both plays are conceived as part of a diptych.
Oedipus and Medea are both murderers and as in many murders the victims in both cases are close family members. Oedipus murders his own father whereas Medea murders her own children. Тhese are the sort of shocking crimes that power many a true crime documentary on television today. But there is a big difference. The producers of the television series organise interviews with experts to share their ‘expertise’.
But many of them go further and go out of their way to condemn the murderers and will describe them as evil. These experts who are often police detectives who worked on the crime or professional psychologists and family or friends of the deceased and it often strikes us as strange. Why tell us something we feel already? Are they anxious that if they even just talk about the crime we may think that they actually condone it?
On the other hand Sophocles and Euripides do nothing of the kind.
They present the facts of the case as objectively as possible and it disturbs us as they give no cosy judgements to make us feel safe. And we have to deal with all the messy reactions a human must feel. That is the power of both these plays.“
Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod, April 2025
Watch on 10th June Medea by Euripides at 6:30 PM, part of the Bulgarian selection and the “Showcase” programme, and Euripides by Sophocles at 8:15 PM, part of the international selection, at the Drama Theatre – Second Stage.