Stratford Festival Reviews » Phèdre

Phèdre: A midsummer night’s terror worth revisiting

Keith — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 16:46:08 +0000

"Kenneth Tynan once described Jean Racine's Phèdre as "a disappointing sequel to A Midsummer Night's Dream." I wouldn't necessarily endorse the adjective (and he himself went on to withdraw it) but the presence of both plays at this year's Stratford Festival gives us a unique opportunity to follow the story through and to reflect on the unreliability of happy endings."

A brilliant Phèdre waits just next door

Keith — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 19:31:22 +0000

If you want to see a fine tragic actress at the height of her powers tackling one of the great dramatic roles in the canon – Jean Racine's Phèdre – now is your chance...this is work of the highest calibre. And you don't need to travel all the way to England to see it.

Phedre a restrained approach to incest

Keith — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:51:51 +0000

Insightful context supports a lukewarm review. "As Racine wrote in his preface, he was satisfied with his tragedy because the mere thought of the crime [incest] is looked upon with as much horror as the crime itself." [This production] "doesn't succeed in making Phèdre's irrepressible lust and subsequent all-encompassing shame resonate with a modern audience."

Skilled cast finds Phedre’s emotional core

Keith — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 03:30:13 +0000

"Few people will leave the theatre unmoved...Sean Arbuckle stands out as the steady, reasonable Theramene. Indeed, one of the show’s highlights is his choking delivery of a vividly terrifying description of Hippolytus’s death."

Drama queen earns no sympathy in Stratford production

Keith — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 17:17:25 +0000

While all the actors in the production turn in solid performances – particularly Tom McCamus as Theseus, Roberta Maxwell as Oenone the nurse, and McKenna in the lead – they seem to be working independently of one another.

Passion and tragedy aplenty

Keith — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:11:56 +0000

4 out of 5stars from Coulbourn: "...director Carey Perloff imposes an elegant sense of understatement on the high drama of the tale...[and keeps] things from descending into a wallow of melodrama."

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Keith — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 15:35:55 +0000

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