Direct from its run at the Getty Villa in Los Angeles, SITI Company's new production of Euripides’ The Bacchae begins performances in the BAM Harvey Theater October 3. The production will play a limited engagement through October 7 as part of the Brooklyn Academy of Music's 2018 Next Wave Festival.
The Bacchae is translated by Aaron Poochigian and directed by Anne Bogart. The production is created and performed by SITI company.
Considered to be one of Euripides’ greatest works, The Bacchae is a cautionary tale against hubris and fear. The story follows Dionysus, the god of wine, ritual madness, fertility and theatre, who returns in disguise to his birthplace in Greece. As revenge for a personal slight, Dionysus plans to spread his cult among the people of Thebes. His adversary, King Pentheus, fearing the spreading of his influence, imprisons Dionysus, leading to catastrophe.
The cast is made up of Ellen Lauren as Dionysus; Barney O’Hanlon as Tiresias; Stephen Duff Webber as Cadmus; Eric Berryman as Pentheus; J. Ed Ariaza as Soldier; Leon Ingulsrud as First Messenger; Gian-Murray Gianino as Second Messenger; Akiko Aizawa as Agave; and Roshni Shukla and Samuel Stricklen as the Chorus.
Set and lighting design is by Brian H Scott; sound design is by Darron L West; compositions are by Erik Sanko. Eleni Kyriacou is costume consultant, and Helene Foley and Norman Frisch are dramaturgs.
This adaptation of The Bacchae was commissioned by The J. Paul Getty Museum and first performed at the Getty Villa on September 5, 2018.
BAM's 2018 Next Wave Festival features 27 works across music, opera, theatre, dance, film, music, and performance art from around the world.
Highlights include the U.S. premiere of Humans, the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe critics hit from acclaimed circus troupe Circa (October 3–7 in the Howard Gilman Opera House); a world-premiere new musical piece featuring a mix of classical, R&B, jazz, rock, experimental, and improvisation from Ted Hearne and Saul Williams with direction by Patricia McGregor (October 11–13 in the Harvey Theater); the U.S. premiere of Philip Glass' re-worked opera about Mahatma Gandhi’s time in South Africa, Satyagraha (October 31–November 4 in the Harvey Theater); the U.S. premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s opera Greek, adapted by Steven Berkoff from his play; and a return of Mark Morris Dance Group's The Hard Nut (December 14–22 in the Howard Gilman Opera House).
The festival runs through December 23. For the complete lineup of works, visit BAM.org.
