An Ancient Greek tragedy served up as badminton, To You, The Birdie! is The Wooster Group’s version of Racine’s Phèdre, the 17th century French poet’s epic retelling of the myth of Theseus and Hippoloytus.

Transplanting the action from Ancient Greece to a badminton court, this unusual disjuncture allows The Wooster Group to give free rein to the wild imagination and experimentation that has become their trademark. Actors recite their lines whilst adopting poses of athletic grace, the stage set is also littered with medical equipment and sliding plasma screens projecting a riot of abstract imagery almost as overwhelming as the cacophonous soundtrack. The staging and Paul Schmidt’s script might be defiantly avant-garde, yet this story of sexual obsession provides an insight into the human psyche which remains uncomfortably universal.