Phaedra

Do you love? I feel all its mad fever.

Phaedra is dying, and the universe around her is collapsing too. Yet it is not evil that brings her world crashing down, but love. A painful, difficult, unbidden, and unforgettable love.

The hero-king Theseus, already written into mythology, sets off on another adventure and leaves behind a tormented family. But when news arrives that Theseus has met his end abroad, the suffocating passions at home begin to implode. Through simple words, spoken and unspoken, the tragedy’s stage is set and the balance of love and hate is thrown into chaotic discord.

In the 70s and 80s, Samuel Beckett stationed himself at Riverside Studios - where he rehearsed several productions, including Endgame and Waiting for Godot. The writer’s legacy with the theatre extends to multiple productions staged over the decades, including a series of short plays performed by Billie Whitelaw in 1986, and a production of Happy Days in 2021, directed by Trevor Nunn.

We draw inspiration for our production from the surrealist works of Beckett and his contemporaries at Riverside, who leant their focus to the spoken word, to the power of abstract individuals, and to their unconventional approaches to staging and lighting.