Hotel Medea at London's Hayward Gallery - a short bus journey away from N16 and a very different sort of night out.

Exploring the heart of the ancient myth of Jason and Medea, Hotel Medea is an all night theatre experience and the culmination of six years’ development by Persis-Jade Maravala, who plays Medea, and Director Jorge Lopes Ramos of Hackney and Brazil based Zecora Ura Theatre Network.

'I feel great, I could do it all again right now, is it on tonight?' delcares a fellow Medean, as we breakfast in the first light of day, gathered around a long white tableclothed banquet of fruit, bread, cheese and other delights, on London's Southbank. Both audience and cast reflect on their night at Hotel Medea. 'We missed the sunrise yesterday' declares the actress next to me as she tucks into a bowl of Angu (Brazilian cornmeal porridge). Clad from neck to ankes in pristine white she and her fellow cast members appear more anonymous now than in the opening scenes of the night, as a security guard mob, in black motobike hemets, batons in hand, bare breasted.

Begining with the 'Zero Hour Market', referencing Greek legend and Brazilian carnival we've journeyed from the marriage of Jason and Medea and their flight with the Golden Fleece, to electioneering, a lover's betrayal, resurrection and revenge exacted. We've participated in a party with live DJ set from DJ Dolores, and engaged in a political campaign, complete with focus group. We've been mothered, entertained, and provoked; male and female roles reversed we've assumed the mantle of soldiers, prisoners, and children in flight.

With an enormous amount of material this is a brave project and the storytelling is confusing at times. I started out with trepidation, was I going to make it through all night theatre? High octane and mixed with sleep deprivation this interactive assault on the senses has us laughing, dancing, thinking, hiding in secret spaces exchanging our worst fears with strangers. There's a unique quality to inhabiting the exhibition halls, lecture rooms, balconies and service lifts of the Hayward Gallery in the dead of night. With a reflection on what it really means to win, and at what price, the spell of the night is broken as the gallery doors are thrown open to reavel daybreak. Hotel Medea has taken up residence at the Hayward until the 11 August, following its raging succes at the Edinburgh Fringe 2011, and previous runs at East London's Trinity Buoy Wharf and Dalson's Arcola Theatre. Well worth staying up for. (Tickets are available for part 1 The Zero Hour Market as a stand alone performance).

Bryony Hegarty


Hotel Medea Trilogy ran until 11th August 2012
Hayward Gallery, South Bank Centre, Belvedere Rd, London SE1 8XX


Zero Hour Market (part one only)
Hayward Gallery, South Bank Centre, Belvedere Rd, London SE1 8XX
To 11th August 2012, Thursdays at 9pm, Friday & Saturday at 11.45pm
020 7960 4220 | www.southbankcentre.co.uk | £20 (£17 concs)

Hotel Medea is produced by Persis-Jade Maravala and Zecora Ura.
Commissioned by Salisbury International Arts Festival and C.P.C. Gargarullo, Brazil.