Since I just blogged about "Gilgamesh", I thought I would try the old double-header thing again, and write about another tale from ancient mythology. So here are a few images from Euripides' "The Bacchae".
On Friday I went to the Mead Theatre Lab at Flashpoint to see this production by the Rebellious Players of Bristow, Va. This theatre is a small space, so the production feels very intimate, despite the text coming to us from so far in the past.
The story, of course, tells of Dionysus coming to Thebes, where his mortal cousin King Pentheus has forbidden the populace from worshipping Dionysus. In fact, the whole house of Cadmus, their maternal grandfather, denies that he is a god. But Dionysus has enchanted the minds of Thebes' women, now known as the Bacchae, who have run off into the wilderness to worship him in endless mystery rites and wild orgies.
Pentheus imprisons Dionysus, who is disguised as a traveller, and sends his army to round up the errant women. But his punishment for not honoring a god is terrible. His palace is destroyed, and Dionysus leads him into the mountains, dressed as a woman, to spy on the Bacchae. When they discover a man in their midst, they tear him limb from limb. His own mother, under the delusion that he is a lion, rips his head off and proudly brings it back to Thebes before realizing what she has done.
Thus Dionysus completely destroys the house of Cadmus for its impiety. Not an upbeat tale by any means, but a riveting one.
I particularly liked the inventive costumes in this production. The text seems to hew closely to Euripides' own words (in translation, of course!)
There will be two more performances of "The Bacchae", Saturday the 26th at 10:30p.m., and Sunday the 27th at 2:30 p.m.To see more photos of this show, click here.
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