Answers
distressing / harrowing
first / dawning
explosively / volcanically
worked together / collaborated
focuses / homes in
idea / concept
combines / integrates
soaks / saturates
little / scant
brought to life / incarnated
torturing / lacerating
sarcastic / mordant
trite / banal
substitute /proxy
lust / prurience
confused / befuddled
believably / cogently
hopeless / abject
fulfillment / fruition
frustrated / thwarted
Questions:
1. Is this review of the Abbey Theater production of Medea positive or negative? Find sentences/phrases from the text which support your answer. "doesn't disappoint" (4) "brilliant Fiona Shaw" (6) "thrilling" (19) "essential ticket of the theater season" (39) "miracle of this "Medea" (42)
2. Which sentence suggests that this production had an action-packed pacing? "a state of breathlessness that never really lets up" (70) "radiates such high theatrical energy" "grinning" (73)
3. How does the director reinterpret the original play to make it relevant to modern audiences? Give examples. "half-finished courtyard littered with children's toys and cinder blocks" (65) "nurse...as a student au pair type" (75) "feverish look of fans addicted to real-life soap operas" (88)
4. How does the writer describe the experience of the audience members? "a visitor who showed up at just the wrong moment" (83)
5. How does Ms. Shaw's Medea differ from previous interpretations of the role? "little in common with the majestically angry sorceress" (50) "scant evidence of the commanding icy intellect" (55) "one of the most human Medeas ever...refused to simplify her." (155)