NEW YORK – It is remarkable – and not just to Hellenes – that Greek tragedy has not only great staying power but relevance in today’s tumultuous world.

Writing for Ctexaminer.com about Luis Alfaro’s ‘Mojada: A Madea in Los Angeles’, directed by Laurie Woolery, running through April 1 at Yale Repertory Theatre at the University Theatre at 222 York St. in New Haven, Tim Leininger says, “there is a lot of flexibility with what one can do with a Greek tragedy. Its simple framing of plot and absolutism with its moral compass depicts what could in a modern interpretation be a Biblical parable. But with storytelling having evolved more than two millennia the retelling of Greek tragedy, particularly modernized retellings, allow for the broadening of themes, implementing pertinent contemporary social issues.”

He continues by noting that, “Mojada is an overall good play, and a decent adaptation of Euripedes’ Medea. There are mystical elements that don’t particularly land with the modern setting, and the extreme measures Medea takes tend to come off as more mental illness than righteous avenger at times.”

According to Leininger, “led by Moreno, the cast is solid. There are standout performances by Moreno and Martinez. Martinez being a stand-in for the traditional Greek chorus, she has the burden of much of the exposition of the characters’ history, and does so with a delightful degree of wry humor that comes with having decades and decades of wisdom.”

He said that he loved Marcelo Martinez Garcia’s scenic design, “and Woolery’s use of it,” adding that, “the structures’ ability to be interpreted in a multipurpose fashion is very much successful due to Stephen Strawbridge’s lighting and Shawn Lovell-Boyle’s projection design. Both move from subtle fluctuations of tone to broad strokes of aggression, depending on what the scene calls for. It’s restrained when necessary, and hard hitting other times. Woolery does a great job creating atmosphere around the set as well with Bryn Scharenberg’s sound design coupled with actors moving across the upstage scrim and backdrop giving the impression of children playing in the street out front. It’s never too much and gives an added depth of environment. Mojada is deftly directed and the cast is overall good.”

Leininger concludes: “I do feel though that the story, in its attempts to contemporize the Greek tragedy does lose some of its mythic qualities, but does also gain some modern relevance.”