Bakkhai

Based on Euripides in a new version by Anne Carson
Translated from the English by Maria Milisavljevic
Drama course

For King Pentheus, the world can only be understood in binary terms. That is why the arrival of the anarchic god Dionysus, with his fluidity, eroticism and ecstasy, is tantamount to a declaration of war for the young king. While the new god gathers the women of Thebes around him in a bacchanalian frenzy, Pentheus' orderly world falls apart. The refusal to recognize Dionysus as a god and Pentheus' desire to be part of the forbidden ritual take a tragic course. Anne Carson's reinterpretation brings questions of feminism and non-binarity to the forefront of the ancient tragedy.