Phaedra

No Nude Men Productions presents Racine’s Phaedra. Set in a secluded, island estate in early 19th century Europe, this faithful rendering of the Racine text moves the action into an age of tea cups, home mysticism and repressed longings, presented against a backdrop of relentless rain and candle-light, tinkling music boxes and echoing footsteps. The story follows the plight of impoverished aristocrat Phaedra, forced by her evangelist merchant husband, Theseus, to live in isolation with his son by another marriage, the proud Hippolytus, and the boy’s tutor, Theramenes.

Sequestered in the boy’s island home, they share their uneasy existence with Aricia, the daughter of Theseus’s rivals for a rich estate, tricked into becoming his ward after the untimely death of her father. As the tale unravels under the watchful eyes of the whispering servants, it is revealed that Phaedra has developed an all-consuming love for Hippolytus, and through the guidance and manipulation of the housekeeper, Oenone, she attempts to consummate her love for her own stepson, but the disastrous meeting culminates in an attempted suicide that turns out to only be the tip of the iceberg.