Phaedra + Minotaur

Tour synopsis, cast & creatives

Phaedra - Consumed with an uncontrollable lust for her stepson, Phaedra determines her only way out is death. Minotaur - Ariadne has betrayed home and country to help her lover slay the Minotaur - only for him to abandon her, while Dionysus watches on from above. Following acclaimed performances of their double production at Theatre Ustinov, Bath, frequent collaborators Deborah Warner (Wozzeck, Peter Grimes) and Kim Brandstrup (Metamorphosis - Titian, Rushes - Fragments of a Lost Story) reunite for a rare and highly-anticipated co-presentation between The Royal Opera and The Royal Ballet. In an intimate piano arrangement, Benjamin Britten's Phaedra is sung with 'impassioned' (Guardian) force by Christine Rice, who expertly harnesses Phaedra's eroticism and despair, while in Minotaur, Brandstrup's dreamlike choreography lays bare the human vulnerability and desire buried within Ariadne. Sung in English with English surtitles. Captions and translations in English will be displayed on screens above the stage and around the auditorium.

Creatives/Company

Presented by(s): The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, Ustinov Studio, Theatre Royal Bath
Music: Benjamin Britten (Phaedra)
Lyrics: Robert Lowell (Phaedra)
Director: Deborah Warner (Phaedra)
Design(s): Antony McDonald (Phaedra), Antony McDonald (Minotaur)
Lighting(s): Chris Wilkinson (after Adam Silverman - Phaedra), Chris Wilkinson (after Jean Kalman - Minotaur)
Musical Director: Richard Hetherington (Phaedra)
Choreographer: Kim Brandstrup (Minotaur)
Sound: Eilon Morris (Minotaur)