MOTHERHOOD gave Perth actor Alexandria Steffensen a sense of power and fierceness, along with an enormous sense of vulnerability in her role as a protector.
She is drawing on these opposing feelings for her title role in Black Swan State Theatre Company production Medea, a new adaptation co-written by WA’s Kate Mulvany.
“It’s arguably the greatest classic role for women,” Steffensen said.
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READ NOW“All I knew about her before I started doing my research was that she’s the woman who killed her children, which is the only reference most people can identify with when they hear the name ‘Medea’.
“In the Euripides version and other adaptations, you see Medea’s thought process in the moment of what she’s going to do.
“In this one, the intention of the playwright was to view this really well-known story, that’s been around for over 2500 years, through a different lens, shining a spotlight on the children who are pretty much voiceless in most adaptations.
“They’re real and she’s real too, framed as a mother and we see her deep love for her children, which is what defines this production.”
Born in Johannesburg, Steffensen moved to Sydney with her family when she was nine months old, settling in Noranda a year later.
The mother of two young boys studied at Curtin University and WAAPA, becoming a sessional lecturer at the latter when moving home from Melbourne to Mullaloo last year, after 16 years away.
Steffensen said part of Medea was about the end of a marriage and the impact it had on children involved in a situation where they had no control.
“Yet the ramifications or implications of the marriage breakdown directly affects them, which I think is something a lot of people can identify with, because one in two marriages end in divorce,” she said.
“What I really love about this production is that we get to see the two boys in their bedroom, where there is a little bit of a knowingness that things aren’t right between Mum and Dad.
“The innocence and lack of control is heart-breaking.”
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THE ESSENTIALS
What: Medea
Where: Studio Underground
When: August 8 to 25
Tickets: www.bsstc.com.au