Phèdre - Theater
Racine's masterpiece tells of a struggle between light and shadow, between desire and honour, driven by the violence of the feelings that drive Phèdre, love's most touching and memorable victim.
Phaedra, the tragic heroine par excellence, confesses her torment and her guilty love for young Hippolytus, the son of her husband Theseus, King of Athens, whom he had with an Amazonian woman. Soon rumours of Theseus' death spread through the city, and Phaedra tells Hippolytus of the tragic death and confesses her love for him.
The young man who loves Aricie rejects Phèdre. After the pain of the confession comes another piece of news, terrible for Phaedra: Theseus is not dead; he has returned and Hippolytus is with him. What fate awaits the young queen whose love has disgraced her in the eyes of her husband and who can no longer escape the curse of the gods?
"To allow the actors to hear this journey through the language of Racine, I propose a very simple stage set-up: organised frontally with the actors never leaving the stage. This simplicity and proximity allow everyone to make Racine's language their own. A bare stage that leaves room for the word, the poet and the actor. Robin Renucci
Phaedra, the tragic heroine par excellence, confesses her torment and her guilty love for young Hippolytus, the son of her husband Theseus, King of Athens, whom he had with an Amazonian woman. Soon rumours of Theseus' death spread through the city, and Phaedra tells Hippolytus of the tragic death and confesses her love for him.
The young man who loves Aricie rejects Phèdre. After the pain of the confession comes another piece of news, terrible for Phaedra: Theseus is not dead; he has returned and Hippolytus is with him. What fate awaits the young queen whose love has disgraced her in the eyes of her husband and who can no longer escape the curse of the gods?
"To allow the actors to hear this journey through the language of Racine, I propose a very simple stage set-up: organised frontally with the actors never leaving the stage. This simplicity and proximity allow everyone to make Racine's language their own. A bare stage that leaves room for the word, the poet and the actor. Robin Renucci
