Getty Presents Medea Refracted

Getty presents Medea Refracted, a play about how two women, Medea and The Nurse, navigate the aftermath of violence and trauma and are brought out of the dusty tomes of Greek mythology and into our world in search of redemption.

Created by Constance Strickland and directed by Jonathan Takina Taylor, the work-in-progress performances will take place at the Getty Villa Museum on Saturday, April 29, at 3pm and 7pm, and Sunday, April 30, at 3pm. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased online. The play is produced by Theatre Roscius.

At the city’s edge, Medea, the nurse, and the women of her community refract violent histories. Each woman battles an event from her past, an action done or done to her. As they grapple with the weight of these actions, they gesture toward healing. This is a ritual. Through movement, text, and music, we explore the question: Can these women re-enter society in a healthy manner, and can their re-entry be welcomed?

This performance is the culmination of Strickland’s many years investigating Medea. Her work explores intergenerational trauma, race, motherhood, and mental health.

“As a Black woman-led theatre company, the resources and support for the work can be lacking. For 10 years this year, Theatre Roscius has been creating and self-producing new work that focuses on the mental health and well-being of women,” says Strickland. “To be able to share the work at the Getty Villa Museum is not an invitation we take lightly and allows us to uplift the women whose stories we tell to a broader audience. The residency is a priceless gift that we are honoring. We thank the community for their support.”

The ensemble includes Lydia Li, Bibi Mama, Judy Marcelline, Constance Strickland, Siera Williams, and cellist Sophia Bacelar.

For over a decade, Getty has hosted its Villa Theater Lab series, an exciting forum for the reinterpretation of classical theater. These workshops feature new translations of Greek and Roman plays as well as contemporary works inspired by ancient literature. Past performances have included Letters from the Black Sea, Cassandra, an Agony, After Iphigenia, Cowboy Elektra, and more.

About Theatre Roscius

Theatre Roscius, is an independent, Los Angeles-based experimental performance art/physical theatre and research company that was founded on the simple idea that stories must be shared. That the simple act of sharing, when individuals gather to explore the many facets of being human, ultimately reveals our hidden similarities, and people otherwise easily mistaken for strangers, foreigners, outcasts, when put together in one room, can find they have always known one another. Theatre Roscius aims to create innovative, relevant, and compassionate theatre.

At Theatre Roscius we produce theatre that focuses and enriches the mental and physical health and lives of women of all kinds. We seek to educate, support, and inspire female theatre artists at all levels of artistic development in order to produce theatre that enriches the mental and physical well-being of Black women and women of all backgrounds.