Last Updated on September 11, 2025
Medea Madness is the Perfect Christmas Antidote
Upstairs at the Opera House, as Jean Daniel Broussé demonstrates via a stacked pile of monitors in the corner, Cinderella is playing out. Downstairs, we are in the Underworld, policed by Broussé as Hades and Anna-Kay Gayle as Persephone. Ruination, a work by Lost Dog defies categorisation – spoken word theatre, contemporary dance theatre and live music – at times comedic at times bizarre and at times poignant and moving. Broussé is a Cocteau-esque character with wickedly creative costumes and perverse insights into everything around him, including Cinderella (who apparently goes to a swingers’ ball). Gayle is strong and determinedly ‘proper’ – providing her husband with clean underwear, pointing out that she is the victim of an abduction by Hades and championing Medea’s viewpoint.
In this surreal world, the newly dead arrive down a mysterious spiral chute or, as is the case with Jason and Medea, on surgical trolleys ensheathed in white body bags. As each bag opens, the protagonists emerge in a dance reminiscent of birth—stumbling at first, then gradually transforming into fully realized characters. Jason, portrayed by Liam Francis, is a whimsical and seemingly naive hero, while Medea, played by Hannah Shepherd, is embittered and resolute.
In the original myth, Jason, a Greek hero, embarks on a quest for the Golden Fleece to secure his inheritance. However, Ruination focuses on reinterpreting stories, casting the audience as a jury in a trial presided over by a silver-wigged skeleton as the judge. Hades and Persephone take on the roles of advocates for Jason and Medea, respectively.
We watch Medea persuade Jason to strip on stage so she can anoint him with magic ointment, we meet her father, the erratic Aeetes (Miguel Altunaga) and we see Jason and Medea escape with the fleece, murdering Absyrtus (Maya Carroll who also plays Glauce) and feeding him to the fishes. From that moment on a desolate Aeetes is seen dragging a fishing net searching for the remaining part of his son so that he can be buried…
The story unfolds on the intimate Linbury stage, brought to life by Soutra Gilmour’s stunning design and Jackie Shemesh’s evocative lighting. Simple yet impactful props include a water tank that, if you drink from it will erase all memories of the past and a yellow door that opens to reveal misty clouds illuminated by brilliant light.
Throughout the evening we are treated to some fabulous live music from Yshani Perinpanayagam on Piano, performing everything from Rachmaninoff to Steve Reich clapping music and Keith Pun whose ‘Cold Song’ stunned, while Radiohead’s Pyramid song will never be the same again. The music is all curated by Perinpanayagam, worthy of a soundtrack production, it includes old favourites like Mack the Knife (Bobby Darin recording) and finishes with a live performance of Isn’t it a Pity (George Harrison arranged by Nina Simone) sung by Sheree Dubois.
The totality of Lost Dog’s production of Ruination is its brilliance. Dancers who act and deliver lines on stage with all the confidence of West End stars, Musicians who can shapeshift from Purcell to Radiohead and from Rachmaninoff to Reich. A contemporisation that seamlessly fuses candy pink tutus and sleek suits with Greek robes and a dialogue that pulls constantly from past to present.
This is a second run for Ruination at the Linbury, a production by Lost Dog in collaboration with The Royal Ballet. As an alternative festive show, I can think of no better entertainment, despite the underlying tragedy. This is, as Ben Duke eloquently puts it, about death.
“While Christmas is about birth, Medea is about death. The worst kind of death. If Christmas leans towards the optimism of children arriving in the world, then Medea is a brutal reminder of our inability to prevent terrible things from happening to those children.”
Ruination runs at the Linbury Theatre to 4th January 2025
Ruination, Linbury Theatre
Royal Opera House
Bow Street,
London, WC2E 9DD
Looking for something different? We can recommend The Pirates of Penzance from ENO at the London Coliseum
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