{"id":125435,"date":"2026-06-25T14:00:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T18:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=125435"},"modified":"2026-06-25T14:00:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T18:00:16","slug":"scrutiny-soulpepper-outside-the-march-offer-a-complex-portrait-of-rage-in-erin-shields-medusa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2026\/06\/25\/scrutiny-soulpepper-outside-the-march-offer-a-complex-portrait-of-rage-in-erin-shields-medusa\/","title":{"rendered":"SCRUTINY | Soulpepper & Outside The March Offer A Complex Portrait Of Rage In Erin Shields\u2019 Medusa"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"L-R:
L-R: Dant\u00e9 Prince (back); Oyin Oladejo; Gord Rand in Medusa at Soulpepper Theatre (Photo: Dahlia Katz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Soulpepper Theatre in collaboration with Outside the March: Medusa by Erin Shields. Directed by Mitchell Cushman, with Oyin Oladejo, Amy Keating, Sasha Khan, Michelle Monteith, Dant\u00e9 Prince, and Gord Rand. Heidi Wai-Yee Chan, sound design; Anahita Dehbonehie, set design; Ming Wong, costume designer; Nick Blais, lighting designer. June 24, 2026, Baillie Theatre, Young Centre for the Performing Arts. Continues until July 12; tickets here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

In the program notes for Medusa, playwright Erin Shields<\/strong> goes over the various depictions of the iconic snake-haired woman of classical Greek mythology. \u201cI thought about all of these interpretations of Medusa while crafting the play you are about to see,\u201d she writes, \u201cbut what I kept coming back to was rage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shields goes on to talk about the fact that we live in an era where rage of all kinds is on constant display via social media and media in general. While the story begins with the feminine rage embodied by Medusa, it\u2019s also an examination of unchecked rage in general, from the cleansing fire of righteous anger to pointless eruptions of pique, and the cost it exacts on us all.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a play of ideas embodied by the various characters.<\/p>\n

\"L-R:
L-R: Michelle Monteith, Sasha Khan, Dante\u0301 Prince, Amy Keating, and Gord Rand in Medusa at Soulpepper Theatre (Photo: Dahlia Katz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Play<\/h3>\n

The story unfolds in two halves, one set in ancient Greece (kind of), and one set in the present day. Nigerian Canadian actor Oyin Oladejo<\/strong> (Is God Is, TomorrowLove, Star Trek Discovery) is Medusa, surrounded by an ensemble cast of Amy Keating<\/strong>, Sasha Khan<\/strong>, Michelle Monteith<\/strong>, Dant\u00e9 Prince<\/strong>, and Gord Rand,<\/strong> who each portray various roles.<\/p>\n

First, though, they are the serpents who whisper out loud all the self destructive thoughts that run through Medusa\u2019s head. Sound Designer Heidi Wai-Yee Chan<\/strong> (Rainbow on Mars, Death of Walt Disney) has created an immersive soundscape that incorporates their whispers, along with wind, and other noises.<\/p>\n

They come to the audience via headsets that are attached to the back of each seat. The earpieces are set at right angles to the headpiece, creating a kind of space alien look. It\u2019s an ingenious effect that infuses the first half of the play with layers of meaning. At times, the voices overwhelm the dialogue of the actors on stage, at other times subsiding to the background. They\u2019re a source of humour as well as insight.<\/p>\n

As Medusa applies for a job with Athena\u2019s Temple of Innovation, the voices harangue her with the kind of thoughts that beset any woman in modern society. Are you wearing the right thing? Dress formal \u2014 but not too formal. Be confident \u2014 but not too confident. Athena (Michelle Monteith<\/strong>) is the star of this corporate show, uber-confident and full of wise words like, \u201cWomen are trained to be deferential \u2014 we have to fight against it\u201d. At the same time, she\u2019s a bundle of nerves dealing with the members of her own powerful family, and stymies Medusa\u2019s projects even as she ostensibly encourages them.<\/p>\n

The characters come directly from Greek mythology, but the dialogue is decidedly contemporary, as are their issues. Likewise, the costumes (by Ming Wong<\/strong>) reference the draping of classical Greek antiquity, but other than Pallas Athena and her chit\u014dn (and gleaming aegis), they don\u2019t attempt to recreate their inspiration with any historical accuracy.<\/p>\n

\"L-R:
L-R: Michelle Monteith and Gord Rand in Medusa at Soulpepper Theatre (Photo: Dahlia Katz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Medusa\u2019s story continues in the second half of the play, albeit somewhat obliquely.<\/p>\n

The second half is set in the modern era, in the Gorgon Caf\u00e9, where clients, largely women, pay to set up a scenario called a rage, where they take elements of their own lives and unleash their pent up emotion. Some of those scenes have a disturbing edge, even if the \u201crages\u201d are staged.<\/p>\n

Annie (Amy Keating<\/strong>), is an employee who cleans up after clients smash up furniture, crockery, TVs, and anything else they need to recreate a scene. Percy (Dant\u00e9 Prince<\/strong>), aka Perseus, is a new hire, apparently the first man to work for the woman-led enterprise.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do know we live in a time of toxic masculinity,\u201d he reassures Annie. Percy was a baby only mentioned during the first half of the story, set out to sea in a box with his mother by her own father for the crime of getting pregnant by Zeus. Perseus, as any student of Greek mythology (or who\u2019s watched those Clash of the Titans movies), has a specific role when it comes to Medusa, but as Percy, he\u2019s a mild mannered guy just trying to get by.<\/p>\n

The various other characters of the first half re-emerge in modern form, similarly modified from their original inspirations. Sticking to the details of Greek mythology would have confined the story in many ways, it\u2019s clear. A modern setting allows it to venture into new directions.<\/p>\n

The set design by Anahita Dehbonehie<\/strong> is intriguing. For the first half, a set of braided ropes are suspended from the ceiling in a round configuration; characters both emerge from and disappear into it. The serpents speak from behind a translucent curtain across the back, and the gods ascend and descend from a set of steps in the corner.<\/p>\n

In the second half, the plastic translucent curtain moves to the front, and the board and pipe construction that was home to Medusa and her sisters becomes the backdrop that\u2019s arranged for the Gorgon Caf\u00e9\u2019s clients. It\u2019s both economical and effective.<\/p>\n

\"A
A scene from Medusa\u2019s second half at Soulpepper Theatre (Photo: Dahlia Katz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Putting Two Halves Together<\/h3>\n

Outside the March\u2019s award-winning Artistic Director, Mitchell Cushman<\/strong>, who directs the play, had a Herculean task in putting the two very different halves together.<\/p>\n

Those differences result in something of a disconnect. Medusa is the heart of the first half, but she vanishes for most of the second. She\u2019s a sympathetic character to a point, but doesn\u2019t emerge as entirely rounded \u2014 she\u2019s being set up, as we already know from the play\u2019s inspiration, for her moment of humiliation and transformation. Percy and Annie of the modern half are more nuanced and relatable as characters, but lack the stronger emotional base of the first half.<\/p>\n

The play veers between what feels like genuine interactions between the characters, even under fantastical and mythological circumstances, and segments where you feel you\u2019re being told how to interpret what\u2019s happening. In the second half, Medusa\u2019s voice serves to announce thematic plot points and analyses of what\u2019s happened. Those genuine interactions are much more effective at getting the message across. It\u2019s also where the humour largely emerges, which is probably not coincidental.<\/p>\n

\"L-R:
L-R: Gord Rand, Dante\u0301 Prince, Sasha Khan, Michelle Monteith, and Amy Keating in Medusa at Soulpepper Theatre (Photo: Dahlia Katz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rage<\/h3>\n

Rage is presented as an emotion that\u2019s much more complex than it may first appear.<\/p>\n

While Medusa\u2019s rage is in many respects justified, it\u2019s also partly fuelled by the pressures of her family circumstances, looking after Stheno (Amy Keating<\/strong>), the eldest of the three Gorgon sisters in mythology, and Euryale (Sasha Khan<\/strong>), the youngest. In myths, Stheno is immortal, and brutally strong. In the play, she\u2019s feckless and freeloading off her sister. Euryale has panic attacks and relies on Medusa for emotional support.<\/p>\n

Athena is more corporate boss than goddess of wisdom, someone who, while railing against the patriarchy, nonetheless tends to support it, and uses Medusa as a corporate slave. Poseidon, her uncle (played with delightfully oily toxic male charm by Gord Rand<\/strong>), is a slippery womanizer.<\/p>\n

When Medusa finally explodes under the pressure, she directs her ire at Athena, while Poseidon glides away unscathed. Athena knows better, she charges, but supports the system anyway. But, is Athena really the most culpable?<\/p>\n

Other characters and scenes suggest that rage, by itself, is no solution.<\/p>\n

In the second half, a client at the Gorgon Caf\u00e9 flies into a rage when Medusa kicks her out early. And, Athena re-emerges as a woman who\u2019s paid a heavy price for voicing her own righteous anger at work. The subject of Black rage is touched on between Percy and Medusa in little more than a mention.<\/p>\n

Male-female relationships are a source of much of the rage fuelling contemporary society. Percy and Annie\u2019s relationship as coworkers, and their developing friendship, reveal some of the ambiguities of those relationships, in contrast to the false clarity of social media talking points as seen through a political lens.<\/p>\n

\"L-R:
L-R: Sasha Khan, Oyin Oladejo, Amy Keating, and Dante\u0301 Prince in Medusa at Soulpepper Theatre (Photo: Dahlia Katz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Performances<\/h3>\n

Strong performances carry the story over its somewhat disjointed halves.<\/p>\n

Oyin Oladejo<\/strong> is a strong centre for the play\u2019s first half. She takes us right inside the powerful transformation from timidity to white hot fury with a nuanced performance. When she does appear in the second half, her fury has settled into permanent mode, and sent her over the edge to places so-called civilized society doesn\u2019t tolerate.<\/p>\n

The ensemble cast is a showcase of versatility, each of them taking on multiple roles. While they have a much smaller impact in the story, Amy Keating<\/strong> and Sasha Khan<\/strong> create fully rounded and convincing characters as Medusa\u2019s sisters.<\/p>\n

Michelle Monteith<\/strong> portrays both Athena\u2019s strengths and her weaknesses. She\u2019s something of an antagonist in the first half of the story, but Monteith gives her enough humanity to suggest she\u2019s also driven by her own set of pressures.<\/p>\n

Dant\u00e9 Prince<\/strong> offers enough softness to make Percy sympathetic and likeable, but he\u2019s just as capable of revealing an edge in side that soft exterior, a devil\u2019s advocate who questions Annie\u2019s convictions, and a seething anger that flares up under the right circumstances.<\/p>\n

\"Dante\u0301
Dante\u0301 Prince in Medusa (with audience) at Soulpepper Theatre (Photo: Dahlia Katz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Final Thoughts<\/h3>\n

There\u2019s a lot going on in Medusa, in other words.<\/p>\n

The plot mixes a lot of politics into the story in various ways, from the housing crisis to the manosphere. Systemic oppression is a thread that runs throughout the story, the real root cause of the rage. But, as most of us do, the characters react to the personal and individual rather than taking up arms against the system \u2014 even Medusa herself, who begins with high minded ideals about helping society, but in the end takes action on a personal level.<\/p>\n

Or, is that the only way we can react? Is that all we\u2019ve been left with in this society?<\/p>\n

Medusa offers a variety of ideas and truisms, with no answers to the questions it raises, other than perhaps the idea that, as righteous as it may be, rage only engenders more rage.<\/p>\n

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Erin Shields’ Medusa, presented by Soulpepper Theatre in collaboration with Outside the March, and inspired by the mythological character, is an examination of rage. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":125443,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[42533,42442,52,42517,62,63],"tags":[42263,42154,22734,43034,3074],"yst_prominent_words":[32082,11439],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/Copy-of-Copy-of-Copy-of-REVIEW-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-wD9","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125435"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125435"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125447,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125435\/revisions\/125447"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125435"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=125435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}