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Thursday, March 7, 2019

Medea review – a funny, brutal and raw masterpiece

Barbican, London Simon Stone’s smart and harrowing retelling of Euripides is performed by a flawless ensemble Euripides’ Medea was first performed in Athens, in 431BC– and it came last in a competition. Within a year, though, it was one of the most performed plays in Greece. Its intensity, devastating relevance and relentless climax have not lessened over time. Simon Stone’s version is not a translation of Euripides, but a loose adaptation (described as being “after Euripides”) that draws on other sources, including the true case of a US doctor, Debora Green, who murdered two of her children in 1995. It is easily the best version of Medea that I’ve seen on the London stage in two decades. Continue reading...


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