Who Was Medusa? Did History Get Her Story Wrong?

On June 25 & 26, the Nora Theatre Company’s “That’s What She Said” program presents a workshop performance re-envisioning of the Greek myth of Medusa with live actors, aerial dance, shadow puppetry, and music.

CW: references to sexual assault

According to writers like Ovid, Medusa was a priestess of Athena, who in a classic case of victim-blaming was transformed into the snake-haired monster as punishment for being raped by the god Poseidon in Athena’s temple. Later, Medusa was beheaded by Perseus, son of Zeus.  By weaponizing Medusa’s severed head, Perseus triumphantly turned a sea monster into stone to rescue the damsel Princess Andromeda. With Andromeda taken as his wife, Perseus was then made king. This is a familiar age-old tale of patriarchal glory, but what if the real story was forgotten or suppressed?

In the retelling of Medusa Reclaimed, the sexual assault catylizes a systemic change in which the hierarchical world of gods and mortals is literally turned upside down as these iconic characters navigate the complexities of power, responsibility, and choice. Instead of condemnation, Athena empowers Medusa with an important new role. Andromeda is not a prop, but an inspired and effective political leader. And rather than turned to stone by Medusa’s gaze, Perseus discovers empathy in an adventure of ecstatic magic.

This workshop performance, directed by Eileen Little, stirs Medusa’s voice in all of us with a cast of 6 actors in multiple roles utilizing dialogue, dance, aerial theater, shadow puppetry by Norah Solorzano, and music by the band What Time Is It, Mr. Fox?.  The show premiered as an animated radio play with live music in a 2019 sold-out Summer run in the Charles Hayden Planetarium at Museum of Science, Boston. In 2021, the creative team was awarded a Boston Foundation LAB grant to further develop the play for live theatre and Boston audiences. Tickets are pay-what-you-can.