‘News. Another rape. Child murdered. War somewhere. Few thousand jobs gone. But none of this matters ‘cause it’s a royal birthday.’

A major revival of Sarah Kane’s blackly comic reworking of Seneca’s classical tragedy of monarchy, incest and fatal obsession, which premiered in 1996: ‘Pure theatre. Or rather impure theatre: dirty, alarming, dangerous’ (Observer)”

Supported by the National Lottery through the Arts Council England.

Starring Joanna Roth as Phaedra, Nicholas Shaw as Hippolytus, Rupert Holliday Evans as Theseus and Emma Keele as Strophe.

Director: Bronwen Carr

Venue: Arcola Theatre, 24 Ashwin Street, London, E8 3DL

Dates: 28 September - 22 October 2011

Performance times: Mon - Sat 7.30pm; Thurs & Sat Matinees at 4.00pm on 6, 8, 13, 15, 20 & 22 October

**FREE pre-show workshops for schools & colleges prior to Thursday matinees. Contact info@reducedcircumstances.co.uk for further information and to reserve spaces.**

Cast:

Phaedra: Joanna Roth

Hippolytus: Nicholas Shaw

Theseus: Rupert Holliday Evans

Strophe: Emma Keele

To book tickets: please click here

"fascinating revival... pithy and blackly witty" (The Times)

"impressive Nicholas Shaw... a heady nihilistic intensity... chilling" (Evening Standard)

"Carr's atmospheric production is worth an hour of the strong stomached theatregoer's time" (Time Out)

"compelling theatre... don't miss" (Morning Star)

"a fantastically visceral and prophetic play...Nicholas Shaw as Hippolytus and Joanna Roth as Phaedra shine in a production that at times – particularly at the end – creates a genuine sense of menace. It’s not for the fainthearted, but well worth a visit." (Islington Tribune)