Bacchae of Euripides (Kypria 2008)

By the National Theatre of Northern Greece.

'Every three years, the residents of a village in Thrace gather in a particular place to enact the myth of the Bacchae. They put together a performance with the simple means that they have at their disposal and with everything that time has transferred regarding the worship of Dionysus. Each one of them plays a part in the ritual, in the play, and all of them together constitute a company of active participants in this story of conflict between Dionysus and the young disclaimer of this celebration, Pentheus. Accompanied by wine and live music, through popular and traditional customs, the unity of circular dances, symposiums and, naturally, the interpretation of a role, the village company meets, celebrates and communes Dionysus, participating in a collective experience of initiation, ecstasy and passage. The countering forces of life that keep them bound to a restricted daily routine, settle in the joy of the celebration, the blissfulness of the spree, the catharsis of the theatrical act. The agony, the moral perspective, the earthly feelings cease to exist and the 'I'm alive' obtains its true dimension. And then, even fleetingly, the mystery of life is revealed. The initiates unite with the godly and experience fullness. The minute sample that we, the unversed, take from the wine, the love and the art of theatre, gifts of the god Dionysus, lights in the darkness of our soles.' Tassos Ratzos (Director)

Director: Tassos Ratzos
Translator: Yorgos Heimonas
Directing supervision: Nikitas Tsakiroglou
Set Designer/Costumes designer: Evangelia Kirkine
Music: Kostas Vomvolos
Choreographer: Kostas Gerardos
Lighting: Yannis Toumbas
Dramaturgy Consultant: Dimitra Mitta
Greek traditional dance instructor: Yorgos Lykessas

The event is part of Kypria 2008 Festival