Societal battles between absolute freedom and rigid structure take the stage on UNA’s Cinematic Arts and Theatre Department’s portrayal of Bakkhai.
Bakkhai explores the themes of identity, society and the hubris of man within its premise. And even though this play is older than the New Testament, the themes ascend beyond that era.
“We wanted to do something that was more of a pure classic,” said Robert Fuson, Visiting Associate Professor and Director of Bakkhai. “We’re in an interesting time where there are elements [from that] structure of society […] and people that push against that.”
“Bakkhai” explores how fragile human identity is compared to a belief, idea or god, with Dionysus enchanting the King of Thebes into women’s clothing and luring him into the unstructured society of the wilderness.
Upon entering the building, the stage managers offered to take blindfolded guests into the auditorium and hand-feed them a grape to praise the God of Wine, Dionysus.
Bakkhai opens with Dionysus, the god of intoxication who was born to a mortal woman, and Zeus. However, the city of Thebes doesn’t believe this story, rejecting him and his followers.
Dionysus’s cult-like following of hedonistic women, named “the Bakkhai,” praise him for freeing them of their mundane lives. Pentheus, the King of Thebes, vows to arrest the man driving these women mad to save one Bakkhai, his mother Agave.
Pentheus is furious that these women don’t respect him and vows to jail the man leading these women away from his empire, despite numerous warnings from the prophet Teiresias and his grandfather Cadmus.
Pentheus eventually captures Dionysus, who casts fire and earthquakes across Thebes, escaping his shackles. Pentheus sees Dionysus’s power and realizes he must sacrifice himself to stop a war with the frantic Bakkhai.
Dionysus then charms Pentheus to dress as a woman to spy on his cult, leading Pentheus to be mutilated by his followers, led by Agave.
Believing to have slain a lion in her love for Dionysus, Agave proudly displays her son’s head to her father, Cadmus, who had just retrieved Pentheus’s maimed body.
Cadmus reasons with a drunken Agave until she finally realizes her horrific mistake, attempting to give her son a proper burial while being mocked by Dionysus.
Bakkhai as a production expanded beyond the cinematic arts and theatre department, bringing in several disciplines to construct and manage the set.
O’Shea Fuqua’s portrayal of Dionysus was a super engaging protagonist, reaching beyond the stage to interact with the audience as the god of theater.
James Graham and Maggie Clark were incredibly uncanny as Pentheus and Agave in the scenes where they mirror each other’s actions, lines and choreography, bringing an eerie tension to every scene they shared.
The three Bakkhai involved in the show were also simultaneously off-putting and entrancing. Each actress gracefully shambled across the stage, praising Dionysus with their vocals and dances.
The crew kept the audience entertained, with unique choreography and creative costumes for the entire cast.
“It’s an awesome opportunity,” said Adrian Hosier, the scenic director for Bakkhai. “This is a really great way to get outside departments interested in theater.”
The production’s cast was entirely made up of UNA CAT students, with most of the crew being either current students or alumni of the program.
Bakkhai was performed at George S. Lindsey Theater, from March 6 until March 9. UNA CAT’s next production, “Melancholy Play,” will be performed April 9 through April 11.
