Genesius Guild's “Medea" at Lincoln Park -- June 8 through 16.
Saturday, June 8, through Sunday, June 16
Lincoln Park, 1120 40th Street, Rock Island IL
For its season-opening production at Rock Island's Lincoln Park, the Quad Cities' venerated classical-theatre organization Genesius Guild will present the return of Euripides' timeless Greek tragedy Medea from June 8 through 16, the one-act play's director Michael Callahan planning to deliver “an intense 90 minutes that you will, I promise, never forget.”
Prior to the opening of Euripides' fifth-century BCE tragedy, Jason (of Jason and the Argonauts fame) has returned to Corinth with his wife Medea. The King of Corinth offered his daughter Glauce to Jason for him to marry, and wanting the status and security that this marriage will give him, Jason leaves Medea. This is where the play begins, and leads to Medea cursing the King and his daughter, which consequently causes the king to send Medea and her children into exile. Medea then plots and carries out her extreme revenge on the King, his daughter, and Jason, resulting in what Callahan calls "possibly one of the grimmest tragedies of the Greek canon."
A longtime Genesius Guild veteran who previously directed Hippolytus and Prometheus Bound in addition to co-starring in productions of King Lear, Twelfth Night, and The Frogs, Callahan says, "I fell in love with Greek tragedy when I was around 10 years old and saw a production of Oedipus Rex at the very stage I am directing Medea on. We have a real gem here in Rock Island, in that very few places produce Greek Tragedy with masks on any regular basis, and we do it outdoors for free! These plays are wonderful, easily understandable, and seem like they could have been written last week. All the characters are wonderfully, fully human, and their flaws line up perfectly to give us this extreme tragedy. One of the wonders of tragedy is seeing the moments where almost everything could work drift by as the characters, one by one, let the chance of happiness slip through their fingers."
Portraying the title character in Medea is Lena Slininger, a veteran of last year's Othello for Genesius Guild and Sense & Sensibility for the Playcrafters Barn Theatre, with the tragedy's Jason played by Brian Wellner in his Genesius Guild debut. Also featured in Medea's cast are: Kate Almquist; Whitney Brown; Guy Cabell; Natahan Elgatian; Nadia Esparza; Joe Sager; and David Wellner. Completing Callahan's cast is the Greek chorus composed of Lillie Estes, Karen Riffey, Mollie Schmeltzer, and Avalon Willowbloom.
In addition to directing Medea, Callahan designed the tragedy's music, and additional members of his creative team include: producer Mark Nelson; stage manager Liz Sager; technical director Bryn Callahan; set designer Miranda Callahan; mask designer Jacob Lund; mask creator Bob Hanske; costume designer Shannon Ryan; drummer Matthew Callahan; and oboe player Christine Walker.
Medea will be performed on the Don Wooten Stage of Rock Island's Lincoln Park from June 8 through 16, with performances at 7 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Admission is free, though donations are encouraged and appreciated, and more information is available by visiting Genesius.org.
