Based on the ancient Greek tragedy by Euripides, Medea the Musical is billed as a “Rock musical set in a courtroom” and written by Hayley Canham. 

We have opted to offer up a rating-less review of the show as it is so early into its journey as a show and has a great deal of potential to evolve before it hits the Edinburgh Fringe later this year. 

Writer of the play, music and lyrics is Hayley Canham who also takes on the titular role of Medea. Canham is clearly an extremely talented individual to be able to don all of these heads in the production. She is also one of the more convincing actors in the production and has a beautiful singing voice. 

Whilst you can tell a vast amount of effort on Canham’s behalf has gone into the script and music, there are aspects of the piece that could be improved upon. The cutting down of characters has led to some plot holes and leads mainly to a lack of conviction behind the characters’ motives. 

The show comes across with a slight lack of identity about where it wants to sit. It uses many aspects of different practitioners and this causes it to ultimately lack some direction and cohesion on the story front. 

Whilst there are some improvements to be made in certain aspects of the play, Dixie McDevitt’s portrayal of Glauce is impeccable. Her acting skills are showcased so vividly in ‘peas in a pod’, and her facial expressions tell a thousand more words than what she is singing about.  Her voice is also equally as strong as Canham’s and the two when singing together – though limited - are very complimentary. 

Our narrator Aegeus, played by Gregory Miller is delightfully sinister and has some excellent moments of dry humour when breaking the fourth wall with the audience. He holds a good rapport with Canham’s character which is important for the story. 

Gabriel Jones is a fine Jason with a great singing voice. His facial expressions just don’t always marry up with what is happening to his character which is in an easy fix and will really help to propel the piece forwards.

For Canham to write 13 brand new tracks is impressive, even more impressively with writing the music as well. Whilst the songs are all delivered wonderfully and whilst they are definitely needed to help tell the story, some slightly miss the mark in doing so.

This is opening week for Medea the Musical and taking a Greek tragedy and converting it into a modern courtroom drama/musical is a big ask in anyone’s book, let alone for a student production. Opening week would not be opening week without some bumps in the road and there is a lot of talent in this production that is currently hidden just below the surface, waiting to be unleashed. 

It would be nice before it transfers to the Edinburgh Fringe later in the year if it can settle on its identity and really strive towards that. 

It has the potential to be a great production, it has a good cast of actor/singers in place and really just needs to harness its potential. 

Reviewed by: Emma Rooney

Medea the Musical plays at the Town and Gown in Cambridge until 10 March, with tickets available here.