About the work
Phaedra's Love (German: Phaidras Liebe) is a free adaptation of the ancient Phaedra myth after Seneca by the British playwright Sarah Kane. Kane wrote the play in 1995/96, commissioned by London's Gate Theatre, where she also directed its premiere herself on 15 May 1996 — her directorial debut; the German version is by Sabine Hübner.
Plot
The listless, permanently bored Prince Hippolytus meets his stepmother Phaedra's love with indifference and casual sex. Rejected by him, Phaedra takes her own life, first accusing him of rape; an enraged mob then condemns and brutally kills Hippolytus. It is only in the face of his own torture and execution that Hippolytus, for the first time, feels genuine emotion and a kind of release.
Cultural significance
Kane herself called the play her "comedy" and saw it as a deliberate provocation given the scandal surrounding her debut "Blasted," premiered the year before; through its direct depiction of violence and its shift of focus from Phaedra to Hippolytus, the play is regarded as one of the sharpest contemporary engagements with classical material on the British stage.