Shortly before 54 A.D., Seneca the Younger, a Roman philosopher and playwright, wrote Phaedra, a 1,280-line poem based on an Ancient Greek story of incestuous desire. Queen Phaedra, wife of the King of Theseus, shamelessly lusts after her own son, Hippolytus, and no good comes from it. With a nod to Euripides, the writer-director Simon Stone has reimagined Seneca’s ancient tale for the National Theatre. In his version, Phaedra—played by the spectacular Janet McTeer—is a waning politician who turns her attention to her personal life. When her stepson re-enters her world, her repressed infatuation can no longer be ignored. —Jensen Davis