Phèdre NT Live Performance 25 June 2009
by Jean Racine
in a version by Ted Hughes
This performance will be broadcast live with several cameras in the auditorium and views of the stage may be blocked at any time during the performance. Please note:
- This is a studio performance
- The light and sound will be adjusted for broadcast
- There will be 360degree filming – resulting in audience members being filmed
- Everyone must be seated by 6.45pm. No latecomers will be admitted
- Tickets are priced at £10 for the whole auditorium. This performance at the NT has sold out.
Consumed by an uncontrollable passion for her young stepson and believing Theseus, her absent husband, to be dead, Phèdre confesses her darkest desires and enters the world of nightmare. When Theseus returns, alive and well, Phèdre, fearing exposure, accuses her stepson of rape. The result is carnage.
Look at me – see a woman in frenzy. I am in love.
Helen Mirren takes the title role in this savage play by Jean Racine, translated into muscular free verse by the late Poet Laureate, Ted Hughes.
Listen to short interviews about the play (MP3 files):
Audio interview with Helen Mirren
talking about her character, Phèdre.
Audio interview with Dominic Cooper
talking about his character, Hippolytus.
Audio interview with Nicholas Hytner
discussing Phèdre and NT Live.
Phèdre will also tour to Epidaurus, Greece on 10 & 11 July, and Washington DC, USA, on 17-26 September 2009. For more details visit nationaltheatre.org.uk/touring.
NT Live: live theatre broadcast to cinema screens around the world.
NT Live is an exciting new initiative to broadcast live performances of plays onto cinema screens worldwide. The pilot season will launch with Phèdre on 25 June, when the performance will be filmed in high definition and broadcast via satellite to approximately 50 cinemas, reaching a widespread audience live across the UK. For more details go to www.ntlive.com
AN ILLUSTRATED PROGRAMME for Phèdre is now available to pre-order online from the NT Bookshop and when you buy your tickets. It is available to buy in person from the NT Bookshop, the Olivier Bookstall and ushers at performance times. Visit programme notes to read an extract.
Phèdre NT Live Performance 25 June 2009 finished on: 25 June 2009
