Spoiler alert. This is one woman you shouldn’t have pissed off.
The play is directed by Dominic Cooke, winner of five Olivier awards. It’s based on the Greek tragedy written by Euripides.
In it, Medea betrays her family to marry Jason, and the couple flees to Corinth in ancient Greece.
What should be a happy ever after for husband and wife, soon descends into the unimaginable.
When love doesn’t pay off
In Cooke’s version, the bitter and broken Medea is played by the mesmerising Sophie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda and Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls).
Jason’s left Medea for the King’s daughter, who’s not referred to by name, only by her golden hair and beauty.
Jason’s new love is a deliberate contrast to the dark-haired Medea.
The women in their town, scattered among the audience as narrators, describe Medea as a shell of herself after her husband’s betrayal. She’s been left to raise their two sons alone.
When she finally emerges dishevelled on stage, she unravels her pain through monologues.
Enter the men in Medea’s life
Ben Daniels (The Crown, House of Cards and Law & Order: UK) plays the men in Medea’s life.
He embodies various characters including Jason (Medea’s husband who leaves her), the King of Corinth (who forces Medea into exile) and the King of Athens (who Medea later turns to for help).
After an intense build-up, Medea and Jason finally face-off.
Medea expresses feeling abandoned after sacrificing everything to be with him.
Jason, unrepentant, defends falling in love with the King’s daughter as his fresh start that will benefit their sons. This, after all, should trump Medea’s grief.
Victim and villain
Jason’s torment has set the scene for what can push a woman to do what Medea does.
And so, her rampage begins.
We luckily never witness Medea’s murderous acts. We only hear of them from the play’s narrators. Jason’s golden-haired love is set on fire and Medea kills their sons to get back at Jason.
Consumed by anger, Medea makes these unforgivable choices.
The final act
The last scenes are both spectacular and harrowing. Okonedo and Daniels’ performances are so enthralling you could hear a pin drop. They hold the audience in a state of awe and silence.
As Jason learns about Medea killing his lover, rain falls on the stage, perhaps as a symbol of our outpouring of tears for what’s to come.
Medea takes him to their sons in a final blow to inflict him with further pain and abject grief.
It’s a brutal scene to process. Hours later, we were still struggling to recover.
Performing this scene night after night must undoubtedly take its toll on Okonedo and Daniels. They leave nothing behind in their delivery and execution.
The venue
Soho Place is the perfect setting for this immersive actor/audience experience with a 360-degree stage.
It’s the West End’s newest built theatre, the first in 50 years. It opened in October 2022 as part of the development around the Elizabeth line at Tottenham Court Road station.
The play, like the venue, was modernised but drew inspiration from the past. It’s a play that was purposefully simple but bold enough to leave a lasting impression.
Medea was performed at Soho Place from 10 February to 22 April 2023.