The Bacchae
By Wole Soyinka
Year staged: 1973
Opening night: 31/07/1973
Theatre Company: National Theatre; 1963-
Staged in: The Old Vic
Cast Size: 28
Synopsis
On the eve of the annual feast of Eleusis, held to cleanse Thebes of what is rotten and old and to usher in a fresh New Year, Thebes faces a growing threat of an uprising by its enslaved people who suffer under the regime of king Pentheus. “When the present is intolerable, the unknown harbours no risk”. At this moment the god Dionysus returns with his followers, the fearsome Bacchae. Dionysus is driven to restore his mother Semele’s name, sullied by her family’s untrue claim that Dionysus’ father was not Zeus but merely an ordinary man. The intoxicating effect of Dionysus’ wine and music spreads through Thebes, holding it in his thrall. For the slaves it heralds the promise of freedom, the chance to bond with mother nature and to end the separation of man from man. During this unrest Dionysus takes his revenge using Agave, the mother of Pentheus, as his instrument.
Users can access materials from the original 1973 production by booking to come in to the National Theatre Archive.
Original Cast
David Bradley
Herdsman
Harry Lomax
Old Slave
Chrissy Iddom
Bacchante
Mary Griffiths
Slave / Bodyguard
Martin Shaw
Dionysus
Carol Drinkwater
Bacchante
Jennifer Piercey
Bacchante
Rachel Davies
Bacchante
Laurie Morgan
Percussion
John Shrapnel
Pentheus, King of Thebes
Richard Howard
Slave / Bodyguard
Clive Merrison
Slave / Bodyguard
Stephen Williams
Slave / Bodyguard
Michael Stroud
Slave / Bodyguard
Julian Curry
Tiresias
Sarah Atkinson
Bacchante
James Hayes
Slave / Bodyguard
Isabelle Lucas
Leader of the Bacchantes
James Smith
Slave / Bodyguard
Gawn Grainger
Officer
Maggie Riley
Slave / Bodyguard
John Gregg
Slave / Bodyguard / Understudy: Old Slave
David Firth
Slave / Bodyguard
Paul Gregory
Slave / Bodyguard
Constance Cummings
Agave, Pentheus' mother
Paul Curran
Cadmus, Agave's father
Ram John Holder
Leader of the Slaves
Leslie Rainey
Leader of the Slaves
Desmond McNamara
Guard / Slave / Bodyguard
Lynsey Baxter
Bacchante
Philip Bliss
Bacchante
April Ford
Bacchante
Sandra Hamilton
Bacchante
Production Team
Angela Bissett
Assistant Stage Manager
Leonard Tucker
Lighting
Diana Boddington
Stage Manager
Marc Wilkinson
Music / Sound
Nadine Baylis
Design
Roland Joffe
Director
Euripides
Writer
Tony Walters
Stage Manager
Wole Soyinka
Adaptor
Anthony Crickmay
Production Photographer
Elizabeth Markham
Assistant Stage Manager
Richard Howard
Assistant to the Producer
Alison Redgrave
Deputy Stage Manager
Phil Robins
Deputy Stage Manager
Terry Oliver
Assistant Stage Manager
Trevor Mitchell
Assistant Stage Manager
Malcolm Goddard
Movement