The Bacchae
The Bacchae
By Euripides
Directed by Michael Shugg
Starring Sebastian Rivera, Adonis Perez, and Adi Martinez
Valencia College Art and Entertainment Theatre, Orlando FL</strong>
I’ll say this for Dionysus (Rivera): He’s pretty much a dick. He claims divine birth from Jove via a lightning bolt; it’s a sort of divine artificial insemination that keeps the blood lines strong without all the sordid gossip. He’s visiting the town of Thebes and drops by Cadmus (John Moughan). Cadmus’s killjoy grandson Pentheus (Perez) runs the place and is ticked off. The women have all left town to have a Girl’s Night Out, otherwise known as Celebrating the Rites of Bacchus. Dionysus is a traveling salesman for this estrogen fueled event, and Pentheus isn’t happy with him either. It’s hard to say how divine Dyonius really is, but he’s as hard to keep locked up as St. Paul was in the Acts of the Apostles. Divinity is a skill set: you have it or you don’t. But slick Dionysus convinces Pentheus to have a few drinks, do a little low grade cross dressing, and then leads him out in the woods where Pentheus’s mom Agave (Martinez) kills him in a fury. You want your tragedy done right, call in a Greek.
The setting is minimal and contemporary. Five names are listed under set construction, but the set is just a fire pot with a fake silk flame. Rivera is a rather charming Dionysus when he’s on your side; he looks right out of a medieval pirate tale. Mr. Moughan is elegant and moneyed, a regular Thurston Howell III of the ancient world; he and Bobby Bell as the blind Tiresias make all the old guy penis jokes in the play and they are generally pretty funny. As Agave, Ms. Martinez gets too little stage time; she’s mostly off with the girls and only returns to display the incredibly creepy prop trophy of her weekend and Dionysus’s vengeance. Backing them were two police guards dressed for Ferguson, and 11 chorus members in slightly suggestive clothing. They chant, they dance, they groove to the dubstep, and overall give a contemporary version of this classic.
You can read endless analysis of the plot and debates between the Apollonian and Dionysian dualism, but here’s my take: This piece was not written as the light entertainment we use theater for today, but was a morality play showing people how they were expected to behave. That included honoring the Gods as the Gods wish to be honored, and it’s ok to blow off some steam every now and again and that rule isn’t just for guys. But if you’re going to frolic, frolic responsibly, and don’t wander into the wrong frolic, lest it cost you your head. Good advice for the upcoming holiday season.
For more information on Valencia College Theatre, please visit > http:// http://valenciacollege.edu/artsandentertainment/Theater/schedule.cfm/
