Foreign Wars

Random Access Theatre presents Samara Weiss’ Foreign Wars, an aggressive, erotic and powerful adaptation of the ancient Greek myth of Phaedra. Set in military expansionist Athens, Phaedra comes into power when Theseus takes her as his queen after conquering Crete. Away to conquer Megara, Theseus leaves Phaedra to rule Athens and its modern military operations. Fixated on her family’s history of sexual perversion, Hippolytus, the Crown Prince of Athens, is intent on dragging Phaedra off of his mother’s former throne. While Phaedra and Hippolytus find themselves trapped in a psychosexual power struggle that threatens to bring down an empire, their subordinates Theramenes and Panope embark on a cross-cultural love affair with dire consequences. Just as victory over Megara seems imminent, forces of desire, vengeance and love converge in an avalanche of tragedy.