Phaedra

There are also operas, films, frescoes and sarcophagi that deal with history. The ending usually stays the same: Phaedra commits suicide. She cannot bear the shame of encountering unrequited love from her stepson. Her closest confidant, Oenone, also dies in the course of the play: she wanted to protect her mistress and spread the rumor that Hippolytos, the son of Phaedra's husband, had stalked the lovesick royal wife. The king believes the rumor, which means the death of his own son.In a rewrite for the Cologne Theater, the author Thomas Jonigk now lets Phaedra know about her inescapable fate. You, like all the other characters, are aware of the course of the story - but cannot escape it.

Photo credits: Birgit Hupfeld