Phädra, in Flammen - Schedule, Program & Tickets

Phaedra, the wife of the old King Theseus, is bored and frustrated by her unfinished dreams and her dwindling joy in life. The disappointments about what is no longer possible cause their pride to crumble. She demands freedom, a new beginning. And then suddenly there she is, Persea, the future bride of Phaedra's firstborn Demophon: young, a rebel, beautiful in the most beautiful way; by taking the right to be herself. Phaedra falls in love with her, unexpectedly, violently, painfully. At the same time, King Theseus, the successful conqueror of the indomitable Minotaur, builds up Demophon for the throne, but fails to give him his power. Panopeus, the high priest and revisionist who has always been neglected, sees his chance to finally rise and mediate between gods and people with traditional sacrificial rituals.

In her new play, Nino Haratischwili rewrites the ancient Phaedra myth in a confrontational way. The award-winning author of plays and novels such as “The Eighth Life (For Brilka)” and “The Lack of Light” couples the queen not with her unwilling adopted son Hippolytos, but with her future daughter-in-law. This forbidden intimacy sparks a political tragedy: religious and moral pseudo-concepts mask a populist shift to the right that was intended to secure the retention of power. Haratishvili's unmistakable, sensual language reveals Phaedra's timeless suffering as if it were newly felt, as mercilessly as it is lovingly.

Subject to change.