‘Bacchae’ – Imaginative and stimulating interpretation of Greek tragedy
New Artistic Director of The National Theatre, Indhu Rubasingham, brings us a reworking of an ancient text…
By Suman Bhuchar
ACCORDING to ‘The Greeks: Radical Reinvention’ exhibition currently on at the Wolfson Gallery of the National Theatre, this is the third time Euripides’ play ‘The Bacchae’ (now just ‘Bacchae’) has been performed at the National and every generation has interpreted it in their own style.
Director Peter Hall who ran the National Theatre from (1973-1988) did a production of ‘Bacchai’ and performed it with masks.
Now, the current director of the National Theatre, Indhu Rubasingham has presented audiences with a postmodern version, set on a bare stage fluid enough to be a night club or just bare land.
Today’s ‘Bacchae’ is a debut by writer and performer, Nima Taleghani and it appears unclear in its messaging.
Spoken in rap or contemporary lingua franca, we have the main Narrator Vida (Clare Perkins) surrogate mum to Dionysos (Ukweli Roach), who speaks to the audience in a direct address.
‘Dio’ as he is referred to by the Bacchae sisters is a petulant, psychotic brat, who is upset as not being recognised as a Divinity, a God of wine (or whine), women and theatre.
The story is that the Supreme God, Zeus had his way with his mum, Semele, but was not accepted as a God.
So Dionysos, wants to take his revenge on the city of Thebes, where his cousin Pentheus (James McArdle) is king, and who is strict and has forbidden the citizens to accept and worship Dionysos.
The plot is like this: basically the Bacchae drive Pentheus’s mother Agave (Sharon Small) crazy, so she tears out her own son and eats him, because she also doesn’t believe that her nephew is partly divine. It’s no spoilers as this is the Greek myth.
The Bacchae – all loose hair and stringy skirts – modelled on ecowarrior meets hippie meets witches archetypes, while ‘Dio’ is more bling and sneakers.
They are meant to be refugees, who are seeking space and sanctuary in Thebes but when they cannot conform to Theban rules they become destructive and vengeful – this makes me uncomfortable – ‘follow the rules and do everything we want or else’ seems to be the message – but maybe this is to overthink it – Vida even urges us not to overthink it.
Pentheus is another archetype – all buttoned up in military clothes, giving orders but when he meets his cousin who is in disguise as a refugee, they have a good chat and he goes to the Bacchae in disguise, dressed in a green lame dress and cloak, channelling his inner femininity. There is a moving dialogue between the cousins but suddenly the tone changes and Pentheus reverts to his macho assertions.
The performances are good, while the production design and magic on display, is marvellous to see before us. Things appear and disappear before our eyes. The column, the cupboard and the tree.
So, did we like this postmodern version?
Yes and No.
I enjoyed this interpretation, but the overall messaging is confusing.
ACV rating: *** (out of five)
Listings
‘Bacchae’ until Saturday, November 1 at Olivier Theatre, Upper Ground, South Bank, London SE1 9PX
https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/productions/bacchae
‘The Greeks: Radical Reinvention’ exhibition – until February 2026
