Sheila Gish, who specialises in larger-than-life characters, especially those of Tennessee Williams, is to star as the lovesick Queen, Phaedra, who lusts after her stepson, in an English version of Racine's classic play, based on ancient Greek myths, at the Riverside Studios next year.
The production, by Concentric Circles, co-starring Daniel Betts and directed by Christopher Fettes will run from Jan. 28 to March 9, replacing the previously planned version of Hamlet starring Colin Firth.
Phèdre was memorably performed in the West End a few years ago in an Almeida double bill of Racine's plays (the other being Brittanicus) at the Albery, in which Phaedra was played by Dame Diana Rigg and her stepson, Hippolytus, by Toby Stephens. In Brittanicus Toby Stephens played the young Nero, while Rigg played his mother, Agrippina.
—by Theatrenow
