Medea, M’Dear?

Yesterday, to see a new production of Medea performed at the brand new @SohoPlace theatre opposite Centre Point. This was built as part of a massive regenerative project in Tottenham Court Road to accommodate the Crossrail project.
 
The play, with Sophie Okonedo as Medea and Ben Daniels in various roles, has attracted rave reviews. It is an adaptation of the work by Euripides, first performed in Athens in 431 BC. I’m not a great fan of theatre in modern dress, but this performance was sensational; the emotional overload at the end left me unable to speak for several minutes. It is astonishing that a play written two-and-a-half thousand years ago has the power to mesmerise in our cynical age.
 
The theatre too was superb, designed for performance in the round with over 600 seats, each one with perfect eye-line view of the action. There were one or two niggles with the lobby, restaurant, and bar area—quite cramped and with lavatories with such obscure post-modern labels that specific directions as to which door was which were needed. Nevertheless, overall a wonderful experience.