Britannicus

The Emperor Nero is running wild, leaving a mass of political and personal scandals in his wake. When he attempts to seduce the girlfriend of his half-brother Britannicus, Nero’s mother, the mighty Agrippina, steps in to prevent him, and chaos ensues. Artistic Director Robert Woodruff directs Racine’s magnificent play—part political thriller, part gripping family drama—which takes place at the locus of an empire where private and public worlds collide. Operatic in its passions and composed in some of the most beautiful poetry ever written for the stage, Britannicus is a tautly-plotted masterpiece.

SYNOPSIS

Agrippina, widow of the emperor Claudius, has had her son Nero named Emperor of Rome, in place of Claudius’s son Britannicus. To maintain her hold over Nero, Agrippina has favored the marriage of Britannicus to Junia, a descendant of the Emperor Augustus. Fearing that such a marriage will strengthen his rival’s claim to the throne, Nero abducts Junia. He himself then falls in love with her, and when she rejects him, he has Britannicus arrested. Agrippina appeals to Nero on behalf of Britannicus, and the court is riven with factions, intrigues, and murder that lead inexorably to a gripping and terrifying conclusion.

Production Sponsors
Charles and Merrill Gottesman
Michael Jacobson