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The Bacchae

The Studio, Edinburgh

Three stars 

 What do you do when you’re told you’re not the God you say you are? In Dionysus’ case after being barred from Thebes by king Pentheus and his mother Agave in one of Euripides’ defining works, you take revenge on those that disrespected with your own gang, and hell mewnd the lot ofd them. 

 This is more or less the driving force for Dionysus in Euripides’ much-reimagined  piece of myth-making involving a cast of, if not thousands, then certainly a few. The last time a new version of the play graced Scottish stages was by way of David Greig’s version in 2007, when Dionysus turned up mob handed in the form of Alan Cumming and a gospel choir in tow. 

 Arriving in Edinburgh hot on the heels of Bard in the Botanics' production of Euripides' other greatest hit, Medea, Ewan Downie’s new take on The Bacchae for the Company of Wolves company couldn’t be more different. Written by Downie, and performed solo by him over an intense and relentless hour, this is a stark and grim faced rendition that sees its creator attempt the impossible as he throws himself into playing all the roles. 

Opening with a song sung in Greek, the late Ian Spinks’ production was first seen in 2023, and is a mixture of poetic declamation worthy of old time Speakers Corner combined with Downie’s committed physicality. Now helmed by Heather Knudtsen, this doesn’t quite compensate for the lack of actual Bacchae on designer Alisa Kalyanova’s black walled room illuminated by strip lights perched in supermarket milk trolleys. Any Dionysian rites that the Thebans were so wary of here become something of a private floorshow in an intellectually scholarly and physically demanding excursion into ancient Greece that takes no prisoners.

The Herald, March 11th 2026

 ends


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