Kings Theatre
4 stars
Audaciousness is proving to be pretty much the stock-in-trade of Jonathan Mills’ debut programme as director of Edinburgh International Festival. From the opening moments of John Tiffany’s production of Euripides classic of revenge, cross-dressing and wild women, when Alan Cumming is lowered onstage upside down like some flesh and blood embodiment of the anti-Christ, here is a thoroughly 21st century reinvention of its source.
David Greig’s spare and punchy new version remains utterly faithful to the original in this EIF co-production with the National Theatre Of Scotland, to the extent that some of its longeurs are actually at times unavoidably dull. What’s extracted from the all-singing, all-dancing musical romp it becomes, however, is a mix of sheer theatrical cheek and edgily provocative seriousness.
Resplendent in a gold lame creation, Cumming’s Dionysus is an initially Puckish figure who totally controls the stage, winking at the audience as he lets them in on his routine. Which, with a Bacchae made up of ten black women dressed in vivid red who become a magnificent gospel choir, is pure life and death showbiz. Add Cadmus and Tiresius’s soft-shoe shuffle, and this is clearly a Bacchae like no other, more resembling 1960s hippy musical Hair than anything.
It’s easy to be dazzled by the technical wizardry on show, from the falling flowers to the lake that runs the length of Miriam Buether’s deceptively simple looking set. Beyond this, though, it’s an acting masterclass, and Cumming’s onstage bravura, as he flits between high camp bitchiness to unadulterated venom, is a joy to watch. Praise too for Tony Curran, who’s tough guy Pentheus’s delight as he discovers cross-dressing is priceless, and for Paola Dionisetti’s blood-soaked Agave, whose agonised cries become the play’s conscience in an electrifying piece of work that’s part cabaret, all masterpiece.
The Herald, August 13th 2007
ends
4 stars
Audaciousness is proving to be pretty much the stock-in-trade of Jonathan Mills’ debut programme as director of Edinburgh International Festival. From the opening moments of John Tiffany’s production of Euripides classic of revenge, cross-dressing and wild women, when Alan Cumming is lowered onstage upside down like some flesh and blood embodiment of the anti-Christ, here is a thoroughly 21st century reinvention of its source.
David Greig’s spare and punchy new version remains utterly faithful to the original in this EIF co-production with the National Theatre Of Scotland, to the extent that some of its longeurs are actually at times unavoidably dull. What’s extracted from the all-singing, all-dancing musical romp it becomes, however, is a mix of sheer theatrical cheek and edgily provocative seriousness.
Resplendent in a gold lame creation, Cumming’s Dionysus is an initially Puckish figure who totally controls the stage, winking at the audience as he lets them in on his routine. Which, with a Bacchae made up of ten black women dressed in vivid red who become a magnificent gospel choir, is pure life and death showbiz. Add Cadmus and Tiresius’s soft-shoe shuffle, and this is clearly a Bacchae like no other, more resembling 1960s hippy musical Hair than anything.
It’s easy to be dazzled by the technical wizardry on show, from the falling flowers to the lake that runs the length of Miriam Buether’s deceptively simple looking set. Beyond this, though, it’s an acting masterclass, and Cumming’s onstage bravura, as he flits between high camp bitchiness to unadulterated venom, is a joy to watch. Praise too for Tony Curran, who’s tough guy Pentheus’s delight as he discovers cross-dressing is priceless, and for Paola Dionisetti’s blood-soaked Agave, whose agonised cries become the play’s conscience in an electrifying piece of work that’s part cabaret, all masterpiece.
The Herald, August 13th 2007
ends
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