The Bacchae at BAM Harvey Theater

One of Euripides’ greatest surviving works thrashes to new life in the hands of Anne Bogart and the renowned SITI Company. In this cautionary parable of hubris and fear of the unknown, chaos erupts when the balance of civilization swings towards tyranny.

Livid at King Pentheus’ attempts to punish and contain the cult-like revelry of the Bacchants, Dionysus-god of wine, ritual madness, fertility, and theater, portrayed here as a woman-exacts brutal retribution on the monarch’s entire family. In a bold new translation by Aaron Poochigian, The Bacchae explodes with choral beauty, emotional frenzy, and shattering loss, finding relevance more than 2,000 years later.

Authors

• Euripides