Abstract: The play Medea - The Deadly Competition is based on the Greek Medea saga of the tragedy of the Greek poet Euripides. The piece is less about the intellectual but rather about the emotional processing of the Greek saga.

Details: The Greek original is about the king’s daughter, Medea, falling in love with Jason and helping him steal the Golden Fleece from her father. Since she kills her brother, among other things, Medea and Jason seek asylum with Creon, the king of Corinth. While at Corinth, Jason quickly turns away from Medea and wants to marry Glauke, Creon’s daughter. Medea avenges Glauke, Creon, and her and Jason’s two sons. The play Medea - The Deadly Competition artistically examines this tragedy. However, it is less about the cognitive examination of the ancient material and complex dialogues but rather about the sensual and emotional aspects of the roles portrayed and topics such as betrayal, jealousy, longing for love, rejection, child murder, and exclusion. A frame narration shows a group of actors who want to enter the city of Corinth, which has a somewhat restrictive migration policy. Therefore, they agree to rehearse the play Medea to be engaged at the Corinthian Theatre. Afterward, a collage of different theatre rehearsals and Medea scenes is shown for the audience, whereby there are several Medeas, Kings, and Jasons. The various actors represent different perspectives of the other roles. During the “rehearsals,” the beautiful Glauke lures the male actors individually to the city of Corinth, which leads to an entanglement between the framework narration and the ancient Medea material.