When love kills…

Queen Phaedra hates her husband Theseus, the legendary slayer of the Minotaur and hero of many wars. In her eyes, he is nothing more than a primitive brute. She despises every inch of his skin and regrets every second she has to spend in his presence. Fortunately, he is often away, plundering foreign territories, subjugating weaker nations, and raping other women.

Hippolytus, his son from his first marriage, seems to be his father’s complete opposite. He is fragile, gentle, and hates rudeness and violence. Why couldn’t Phaedra share her life with someone like that? In spite of her long-standing secret desire for Hippolytus, she desperately tries to keep her passions in check. After all, he is her stepson, so much younger than her, and he has a fiancée! But everything changes when news arrives of her husband’s death on one of his military campaigns. Phaedra loses control and claims the happiness that has been denied her for so long. She cannot imagine the tragic consequences her actions will have.

In this play by one of Scandinavia’s most important playwrights, Per Olov Enquist (1934–2020), a frequent collaborator of theatre director Ingmar Bergman (1918–2007), the famous Greek myth meets the captivatingly harsh aesthetics of the frozen north. In his interpretation, the story of Queen Phaedra is not only a depiction of great passions that have the power to destroy a person, but also a timely warning of where societies based on violence and barbarism can end up.

Premiere: March 20, 2026 at the Reduta Theatre

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