Curnow Medea a hit

Press, 6 September 1989, Page 26

Curnow Medea a hit

A New Zealand-born actor, Susan Curnow, has received enthusiastic reviews for her portrayal of Medea in a new version of Euripides’ play by Brendan Kennelly, which is touring Britain after being a hit at the Dublin festival last year.

Kennelly is professor of modem literature at Trinity College, Dublin, and a poet and novelist as well as a playwright. Robin Thornber in “The Guardian,” describes the play as a virtuoso tour de force by writer and actress. “As dramatic as Dallasty but with dignity,

this Medea explore and somehow shares the totally absorbing obsessiveness of a woman betrayed, making killing her kids seem not only natural but quite inevitable. It’s the voices of reason surrounding her that come to seem absurd, out of touch with reality. “This is partly because of the power of the writing, partly because of a compelling performance by Susan Curnow that by sheer force of her torrential personality, floods the building with Medea, making you see through her eyes.” . Curnow, aged 31, left

her Christchurch home to study zoology at university and switched to drama because the drama department had better parties.

She went to drama school in London, assisted by a friend’s good fortune on the horses. “He won the jackpot and agreed to subsidise my drama course,” she told the “Evening Standard.” She has played rep around the regions and in the occasional fringe production in London, but Medea will be her most significant exposure to London audiences, the paper says.