Anatoli Vassiliev . Moscow Theatre 'School of Dramatic Art'

In conjunction with Europalia Russia, we are organising a ten-day festival featuring three very different productions by the great Russian theatre-maker Anatoly Vassiliev. In the monologue 'Médée-Matériau', a contemporary variation on the myth of Medea, the female protagonist looks back at her humiliation by Jason when, motivated by his thirst for power, he rejected her and married Creon's daughter instead. Medea gives Jason's new wife a bridal gown that catches fire and kills her own two children. At one time Medea betrayed her native country, her people and her family for her love of Jason. Now, language is her ultimate weapon. The French actress Valérie Dréville, who studied with Antoine Vitez and Claude Régy, was born for the part of Medea. As if in a trance, she explores the text with her entire body. At the end of the performance, the past has been reduced to ashes and the memory of Jason has been erased. Images of the sea and cold ice pyramids on the video screen behind her underline the drama that has taken place.