Review: PHÈDRE at Star Theatres

Reviewed by Ewart Shaw, Saturday 29th November 2025.

Rob Croser never gives his Independent Theatre Company challenges that they cannot surmount, but he doesn’t make it easy for them. This is very fine; not perfect, but who else in Adelaide would be up to the task?

The tragedy of Phèdre, Queen of Athens, and her obsessive love for her stepson Hippolytus, has fascinated and horrified playwrights and audiences for several thousand years. Phèdre, by Jean Racine, is a powerful study of a mind unhinged. The story could be played out in so many different cultures, so many different times, but here the domestic is dynastic. Her husband is the legendary Theseus, whose exploit in killing the Minotaur in the Cretan labyrinth has cemented his heroic status. The principal characters are all members of royal houses whose fortunes rise and fall, taking their people with them. Racine follows the conventions of Greek drama. There is one set, an impressive palace at Troezen, and the action takes place in one day, and in that one place. The death of Hippolytus, like so many other events in classic drama, must be reported by a messenger. The English version, by the poet, Ted Hughes, is serviceable, but nothing can match the elegant desperation of “ce n’est plus une ardeur dans mes veins cachees. C’est Venus tout entire a sa proie attachee.” 9It is not a passion burning in my veins, it is Venus herself grasping her prey0. Whom the gods wish to destroy, they first send mad.

Phèdre is driven in despair almost to death by her desire for her stepson and, when Theseus disappears on some quest or other, she is free to hunt the boy down. Lyn Wilson catches the desperation of the queen, in the way she speaks and the way she moves. She is so obviously the victim of a divine madness. Callum Logan brings youthful energy and physical desirability to the role of Hippolytus, in his white tunic, armed with bow and arrow, the hunter hunted. He pushes her away. It’s not just because she’s his stepmother. He claims to have no interest in women. Then the gods make him fall in love with the captive princess Aricia. Aricia is a political prisoner, the last survivor of the rightful ruling family of Athens. Mia Livinsgstone-Pearce is captivating. Their love could unite the Peloponnese.

When Theseus returns unexpectedly, Phèdre is terrified. Her confidante Oenone, played skilfully by Naomi Voortman, takes charge and shifts the blame on the stepson. Theseus, in another mad move, is easily convinced by her lies, and his confrontation with his innocent son will break your heart. Stuart Pearce has all the power needed for the role, and on the day I saw the show, as he pronounced his curse, a jet flew low over the theatre, a divine reinforcement. When Theseus learns the truth he attempts to call back the curse, but Poseidon doesn’t listen and Chris Bleby, as Theramenes, commands the stage as he tells of the prince’s last moments. It’s made more pathetic by the fact that Hippolytus managed to reach the shrine in the burial ground, a place where lies could not reach, where he planned to meet and marry Aricia and escape to freedom.

While the set is striking and effective, the costumes are basically a pastiche of classical garments, on a very tight budget. Lyn Wilson’s fighting her demons but her wig is engaging in a struggle all of its own

On the subject of dynasties Independent Theatre is nurturing one of its own. Aricia’s companion Ismene is her sister Sophie. Phèdre’s waiting woman is Pippa Livingston.