By Andrew Gans
23 Sep 2009
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| Annette Bening |
Academy Award nominee Annette Bening plays the title role in a new interpretation of Euripides' Medea, which officially opens Sept. 23 at UCLA's Freud Playhouse.
The UCLA Live world premiere began previews Sept. 18 and will run through Oct. 18. Lenka Udovicki directs.
Bening is joined onstage by Angus Macfadyen as Jason, Mary Lou Rosato as the nurse, Daniel Davis as Kreon, Hugo Armstrong as Aigeus and Joseph Ruskin as the tutor.
Composer Nigel Osborne collaborated on an original score with Los Angeles-based Persian music group The Lian Ensemble, who perform onstage during the play. The production also features costume design by Bjanka Adzic Ursulov, choreography by Mladen Vasari, lighting design by Lap Chi Chu and scenic design by Richard Hoover.
Bening stars in the classic "about the passionate and destructive affair between the mortal Greek hero Jason and the mystical and exotic Medea. . . . Udovicki, who has directed theater and opera around the world, incorporates classical elements, such as a 12-woman chorus and on-stage musicians, into this stylized modern staging," according to the official UCLA Live website.
For more information visit www.uclalive.org.
