by José Triana
directed by Yvonne Brewster
The Brixton Shaw, London
27 June - 27 July 1999
Gallery
Notes by Director
It was Gwynne Edwards who introduced me to José Triana's work. As Lorca devotees he and I had been working on a translation/adaptation of The House of Bernada Alba which we were hoping to get on, when another of his biege envelope files arrived on the desk. Inside was his first draft translation of Medea in The Mirror. It was, he was sure, my kind of play. It is. The sheer poetry of the piece, the clarity of the characters, the economy, together with the creative, imaginative use of the chorus made it irresistible.
As one who is reasonably well versed in the Dramatic Literature of the English speaking Caribbean, it has been a great pleasure to get to know the work of one of the Spanish speaking Caribbean's most prolific dramatists.
For our Medea Company the setting of the play a few years before the 1959 Cuban Revolution was an important guide. Maria's extreme actions (Triana's Medea is Maria), it seemed to say, were imperative in the search for real freedom from historic limitations.
This play was banned in Cuba after its first performance. Triana says his play, although set in Cuba, should have a wider resonance. True, for too many people/s the battle for true freedom is not yet won.
On being approached about Medea Triana said to Gwynne, "
Imagine my surprise on seeing Medea In the Mirror in English. It was taken out of the Cuban Repertory because it was considered dangerous."
