BILLIE Holiday and Medea are not usually names to be bonded together.

Yet Nina Kristofferson’s performance as the American blues singer in the one-woman show I Cover The Waterfront – The Spirit Of Billie Holliday led to her being cast as the child-murdering Greek princess for Northern Broadsides.

“She’s scary – completely opposite to what I’ve done before,” says Nina, who has played the Nurse in Romeo And Juliet, Cleopatra in Antony And Cleopatra and Bess in Euphonious Opera’s Porgy And Bess.

“The reason Barrie Rutter [Northern Broadsides’ artistic director] was attracted to the idea of me auditioning for the part was all the drama that Billie had gone through herself,” says Nina. “If there is a similarity, it’s in their emotional pain.”

Ironically, she felt she could not draw on that previous performance. “Billie’s emotions came from completely different circumstances; she was raped; she served time in prison; she had to face up to racism,” says Nina.

“There were the problems with the drugs, the alcohol, the illnesses and all the abuse, whereas Medea was not born into that world but was a witch and a princess and had powers she could call upon.

“Billie was at the mercy of everyone, but Medea, by contrast, believed she had the power of the gods.”

In Euripides’s revenge tragedy of passion, hatred and deadly rage, Medea is alone, betrayed by a husband for whom she sacrificed everything, duly leading to her act of matricide.

“I can see her point of view, although can I understand her killing of her children? No,” says Nina. “But I can understand why she felt she had no other choice to gain revenge on Jason, after he drops her for a younger model, which happens all the time.”

The play has been newly adapted for Northern Broadsides by Tom Paulin, playwright and Newsnight cultural talking head.

“The language is modern, in the sense that it’s accessible, but it’s also in verse, which gives it a classical feel and rhythm to drive it,” says Nina, whose performance accommodates a shot of the blues with echoes of Nina Simone.

“There’s a little bit of solo singing for me, but it’s not done in the traditional way, as I want to keep it in character, rather than just singing it beautifully,” she says.

Nina is in week seven of a nationwide tour that arrives in Scarborough today, and she is appreciating every moment.

“At the time I was playing Billie, that was my most important role, and it was the same with Cleopatra and Bess, and now I’m glad to be able to play Medea,” she says.

“It’s a real honour – and it lets my darker side come out.”

• Medea, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, today until Saturday, 7.30pm. Box office: 01723 370541.