Medea
★★★★☆ Furious
Traverse Theatre: Fri 6 – Sat 7 Mar 2026
Review by Hugh Simpson
A millennia-old depiction of revenge is given contemporary urgency in the Bard in the Botanics’ Medea. The award-winning 2022 production is at the Traverse for two performances only, as part of a tour in association with Raw Material, supported by Macrobert Arts Centre.
A majestic central performance by Nicole Cooper helps reinforce the relevance of Kathy McKean’s new version of Euripides. The play, from 25 centuries ago, has become one of the cornerstones of European drama. Medea is the princess who helped Jason overcome her father and take the Golden Fleece, but now finds herself and their children abandoned as Jason marries again for social preferment.
Nicole Cooper as Medea. Pic: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan
The story of Medea’s terrible revenge has of course been adapted by Liz Lochhead in recent years, but there is always room for another version – especially one as tightly controlled and as furiously intense as this one.
McKean’s Medea has been erased from her own story, and rewritten by those who think they know her. But while she may be similar enough to the inhabitants of her new home, she knows she doesn’t really belong. Which must be her fault, since ‘we’re a very friendly people…everyone says so,’ as the Nurse (Isabelle Joss) contends.
immediacy
Where Medea finds herself is never called Corinth, just as Jason’s new bride is not named as Glauce. This helps to give the play even greater immediacy, heightened by Medea (deprived of the traditional chorus) co-opting the audience as confidants and conspirators.
Nicole Cooper is magnificent as Medea, seething with rage, being simultaneously semi-divine and completely human. Displaying both touching vulnerability and implacable rage (and speaking Greek at her most emotionally extreme moments) this is a performance that brilliantly knits together the two strands of the production – its mythic timelessness and its deep connection to contemporary events.
Johnny Panchaud as Jason and Nicole Cooper as Medea. Pic: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan
The rest of the cast, while unavoidably in Medea’s shadow, are very impressive. Johnny Panchaud’s Jason is less manipulative than he is sometimes presented, being more of a bumptious self-promoter who is simply and blissfully unaware that others might have differing opinions. Alan Steele’s tousled tutor and smooth Creon are beautifully differentiated, while Joss gives the Nurse a vivid intensity.
Gordon Barr’s direction has a rare clarity of purpose. People and events that remain unseen (such as Medea and Jason’s children) are nevertheless distinctly felt – something aided by the design of Carys Hobbs. Benny Goodman’s lighting is beautifully stark and expressive.
a genuine feeling of dread
Even though you probably know what is going to happen, there is a genuine feeling of dread, exacerbated by the way that Medea’s anger seems here to be so justified. This is a production of genuine power, where 90 minutes flies by yet time seems to stand still.
Running time: One hour and 30 minutes (no interval)
Traverse Theatre, 10 Cambridge St, EH1 2ED
Friday 6 – Saturday 7 March 2026
Daily at 7.30 pm
Tickets and details: Book here.
The Gaiety, Ayr
Tue 10 March 2026
One performance: 7.30pm
Tickets and details: Book here.
Melrose Corn Exchange, Melrose.
Thurs 12 March 2026
One performance: 7.30pm
Tickets and details: Book here.
Dunoon Borough Halls, Dunoon
Sat 14 March 2026
One performance: 7.30pm
Tickets and details: Book here.
Byre Theatre, St Andrews
Tue 17 March 2026
One performance: 6.30pm
Tickets and details: Book here.
Beacon Arts Centre, Greenock
Thurs 19 March 2026
One performance: 7.30pm
Tickets and details: Book here.
Mull Theatre, Isle of Mull
Sat 21 March 2026
One performance: 7.30pm
Tickets and details: Book here.
Tron Theatre, Glasgow
Wednesday 25 – Saturday 28 March 2026
Evenings: 7.30pm. Sat mat: 2.30pm.
Tickets and details: Book here.
The Lemon Tree, Aberdeen
Wed 8 April 2026
One performance: 7pm
Tickets and details: Book here.
Lyth Arts Centre, Wick
Fri 10 April 2026
One performance: 7.30pm
Tickets and details: Book here.
Eden Court Theatre, Inverness
Sat 11 April 2026
One performance: 8pm
Tickets and details: Book here.
Alan Steele as Creon and Nicole Cooper as Medea. Pic: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan.
ENDS
