About the work
"Medea in Korinth" (Medea in Corinth), subtitled "Die verlorenen Kinder" (The Lost Children), is the fifth episode of Roland Schimmelpfennig's cycle "Fremde Sonne. Die Argonauten. Iason. Medea.". It is the only part of the cycle based on a dramatic source: Schimmelpfennig renders the Medea story after Euripides and Grillparzer in a contemporary poetic language. Karin Beier directs the world premiere on 27 September 2026 at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg; the text was published by S. Fischer in September 2026.
Plot
Medea lives as a foreigner in Corinth. Jason leaves her to marry the princess Creusa and become king himself, and Medea is to be banished. Cast out, betrayed and without a home, she kills her children – an act the play presents as revenge and as rebellion against a hostile world.
Cultural significance
At its centre is the question of motherhood in a male-dominated society. The play stands in the long line of Medea adaptations since Euripides and forms the tragic core of the cycle.