
His religious rites move from the hedonistic to cultish and nightmarish as the play progresses. He speaks frequently to the audience, and his euphonious voice is amplified by a microphone he carries (replacing Dionysos’ thyrsus). The play pits the two cousins as oppositional forces.ĭionysos is a charismatic, seductive party boy, played with a knowing wink by Kambi Gathesha, outfitted in a Coachella-esque getup: kilt, boots, colorful top, and long locks. There will be blood, Dionysos warns, but first will come the wine. In the stunning conclusion (no spoilers), a terrifying-then-sympathetic Shauna Miles as Agave and a resigned Alexander Sovronsky as the ruined King Kadmos understand the power of the gods, their pettiness and cruelty. Seeking vengeance against his own family for their hubris and impiety, Dionysos inflicts upon the sisters a wine-fueled madness that leads to the utter ruin of the entire royal family of Thebes.

Neither his three aunts nor his uptight cousin Pentheus recognizes Dionysos as the son of Zeus, calling his late mother Semele a liar. The daemon Dionysos (half-god, half-mortal) demands full piety from the citizens of Thebes, and introduces his rituals: drinking wine, wearing ivy headdresses, and occasionally running off to the woods to suckle fawns and dismember cows. Willia Noelle Montague in ‘Bakkhai.’ Photo by Jill Fannon.

The tragedy is plotted like a night of heavy drinking - lots of dancing, singing, and fun early on, moving into a confused frenzy, debauchery, and a series of bad decisions, and then the slow dawning of the previous night’s excesses through fuzzy memories and a helluva hangover.


It’s Hadestown meets Titus Andronicus, a concert full of spirited songs and a horrific, brutal ending. A modern dress musical production of Euripedes’ ancient Greek tragedy The Bacchae, Bakkhai is bold, brash, and brilliant, but decidedly will not be everyone’s cup of tea - or more fittingly, glass of wine. Baltimore Center Stage is closing out its 2021/22 season with a bang, a beheading, and Bacchanalian excess.
