Beginning with a boat ride and ending with a bleary-eyed communal breakfast, Hotel Medea is a night-long multi-sensory spectacle. Check in whilst you still can. [Warning! Review includes a few spoilers]

Trinity Buoy Wharf has many reasons that justify a visit; Longplayer, The Faraday Effect, and brightly-coloured shipping containers converted into a Ballardian housing complex.  The latest attraction to lure people to the E14 outpost is Hotel Medea, a joint venture between British (Para Active) and Brazilian (Zecora Ura Theatre) theatre companies.

Having attended past showings in Shunt Vaults, a multi-coloured tent in Stratford Park, plus a full length version at the Arcola Theatre early last year, I had high hopes to be led on another bewildering trip. Zombified Sunday morning, on a shuttle bus to Canning Town, I was glad to have sacrificed a night’s sleep.

As per a spate of London shows in recent memory (Punchdrunk’s Faust being the pick), Hotel Medea is an interactive promenade performance where the audience is led through a warehouse. Oh no! Interactive? Audience participation? These can be dirty words in UK theatre as embarrassment and fears kick in; an unwillingness in many (myself included) to become the focus of attention. In the safe confines of a world outside normality, future audiences should leave their anxieties at North Greenwich Pier (where the show begins) and join in.

Brazilian folk songs and dance are incorporated into Euripides’ tragedy, along with satirical statements on today’s surveillance society and overly-eager media. Barely comparable to conventional sit-down in an auditorium affairs, the audience is encouraged to dance, chant, recite their own stories, and at a given time put on PJs and bed-down. Hot drinks and biscuits (that went like hot cakes) are served between sections, and the event concludes with cast and audience eating breakfast together.

Improved props since past performances aided the show, notably bunk beds, a wall of screens in the control room, and the graphic novel Attendants read to “the children”. Nwando Ebizie’s live keys also added an extra auditory dimension. On the night I attended the crowd took a while to get warmed up but as the night unravelled they were coaxed into the action. With only 76 people able to attend all-night, the performer:audience ratio aids the intimacy. Although not quite as much as Battersea Arts Centre’s recent One-on-One festival.

The performance would benefit from more ensemble work, especially in the third and final section. In what seems to be a nod to Lynch’s Blue Velvet, Medea sings in a cabaret, titled Club Exile. I was unconvinced by this part, feeling it detracted from the overall narrative. Although a striking tableau of the Attendants with knitting-needles almost justified the section’s inclusion.

Overly focusing on the lead character meant Urias de Oliveira didn’t feature as prominently as previously. A shame, as his portrayal of Medea’s brother (Absyrtus) had been a highlight. Club Exile’s addition seemed part of a wider inclusion of more overtly funny moments, rather than sinister passages which characterised earlier showings. The dark and corporal focused sections are aspects that elevate the production above the ordinary.

At times haphazard, at others exquisite, the concept and overall experience merits a viewing. And once you’ve been, what you’ve seen will stay with you.

Due to demand, extra dates have been added. The show will run every Friday and Saturday between now and August 14th. To book contact Arcola Theatre online or on 0207 503 1646.

www.medea.tv

Photos by Ludovic Des Cognet (from past shows)