“The Bacchae” by Euripides

In “The Bacchae”, Euripides tells the story of Dionysus’ descent on the city of Thebes in order to impose the rites of his worship. King Pentheus refuses to recognize this new god, and is subjected to his wrath. Driven mad by the god’s power, he suffers a horrible death at the top of Mount Cithaeron, with his own mother, Agave – herself carried off in ecstasy – committing the terrible crime. Dionysus, his religious rites now established, announces the terrible fate that has befallen the royal family.

According to Yorgos Himonas – on whose Modern Greek translation this staging of “The Bacchae” is based – this tragedy by Euripides “ends strangely”. Faced with people’s grief over his terrible vengeance, the god stands silent, appears “deus sine machina – a helpless god”. Himonas writes: “Euripides, who pioneered the deus ex machina device, here takes things to their other extreme: he creates a deus sine machina – a helpless god. Dionysus stands alone at the far back of the stage, unsure of himself, almost frightened. The final words he whispers are an inarticulate kind of an apology: ‘I’m not to blame for all this. Someone other decided it – and a long time ago too.’ Intimating Zeus. And the pain inflicted on audiences of ‘The Bacchae’ for the torment suffered by humankind is suddenly transformed into pity for this pathetic, cowardly god who caused it all.”

Aris Biniaris first directed “The Bacchae” in the winter of 2010, for the theater space at Bios. Using materials drawn from traditional Greek folk music, he focused on the use of natural instruments and the voices of the actors, which lent the performance a religious air.

Landmark productions in this artist’s directorial career include the works “The Holy Goat” (Bios, 2011) and “The Year ’21” (Athens & Epidaurus Festival, 2014), through which he introduced a music concert-like form of theatrical narration, where the sound, rhythm, and musicality of the spoken word, alongside the technique of the actors, together provide the vehicle through which viewer-listeners can understand and dynamically perceive the concepts driving each work.

Friday 23 March

After performance talk with Aris Biniaris
Moderated by Grigoris Ioannidis, theater critic