ABSTRACT
Ben Power occupies an unusual place in contemporary British theatre and, indeed, the National Theatre itself. This chapter focuses on three different versions of Power’s Medea as examples of final versions of the text: the published text; the prompt script; and the live-streamed recording of the final performance on 4 September 2014. It explains hints of how Power and Euripides interacted, how the audience shaped drafts, and how webs of Classical reception can insert themselves into the discussions of a new production. The rehearsal period is of even greater interest for the study of classical reception and translation. With each contributor to the rehearsal process comes a whole range of associations and receptions, sometimes contradictory, sometimes consonant, with and of the source play and its world. Recognizing these heterogeneous, multiple forces at work allows people to gain a more nuanced perspective on the whole process of translation for the stage.
