Phaedra review: a ‘gobsmackingly audacious’ spin on the Greek myth

Janet McTeer leads a superb cast but the play is fatally flawed

John Macmillan and Janet McTeer in Phaedra
John Macmillan and Janet McTeer give ‘thrilling performances’ in Phaedra
(Image credit: Johan Persson/National Theatre)

In his “gobsmackingly audacious” spin on the Greek myth of a woman in love with her stepson, the Australian writer-director Simon Stone has turned the play into a “satire on smug London elites, while retaining its transgressive, tragic power”, said Nick Curtis in the Evening Standard.

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