The Hidden Territories of the Bacchae
A response to Euripides’ The Bacchae.
Synopsis
Dionysus was the Greek God of Ecstasy, Wine, and Theatre, also called Bacchus, who travelled through distant matriarchal lands with women claiming their Rites of duality, liberation, and joy. In our Hidden Territories version of Dionysus’ return to Thebes, the Bacchae (women gathered from around the world) are rematriating their own languages, ritual, ceremony, and story, such as Anishinaabemowen, as well as Bulgarian, Polish, Kechua, Hebrew, Yorùbá, and Spanish in addition to English.
In Euripides’ Bacchae, the focus is on the story of Pentheus, the patriarch condemning women for asserting their RITES; in DE’s premier 1982 production of RITES, written by Maureen Duffy based on The Bacchae, the focus is on the story of Agave, Pentheus’ mother. In our current version — over 40 years later — we have brought a community of women out of their Hidden Territories to celebrate the power of their voices, songs, and ultimately, their passionate expression for freedom and a just world. — Stacy Klein
Conceived, directed, and designed by Stacy Klein. Co-created with Milena Dabova and Jennifer Johnson. Music by Amanda Miller.
- Dionysus
- Milena Dabova
- Agave
- Jennifer Johnson
- Tiresius
- Carlos Uriona
- Chorus Leader
- Amanda Miller
- The Bacchae (incl. music creation)
- Tomantha Sylvester, Mica Farias-Gomez, Desiré Graham, Ashley James
- Semele (god)
- Cariel Klein
- Aphrodite (god)
- Hannah Jarrell
- Pan (god)
- Victor Figueroa
- Horae (god)
- Ucee-Uchenna Nwachukwu
- Gods of Music
- John Peitso (conductor), Dylan Young, Robert Carlton
- Agave's sister, Autonoë
- Daina Robins
- Agave's brother, Cadmus
- Robert Carlton
- Conceived, directed, and designed by
- Stacy Klein
- Co-created and adapted with
- Milena Dabova and Jennifer Johnson
- Musical compositions and direction
- Amanda Miller
- Additional Music
- Deborah Reed
- Creative Consultancy
- Morgan Jenness
- Dramaturgy and text assistance
- Amrita Ramanan
- Costume designs
- Tadea Klein
- Mask, puppet and additional design
- Jeremy Louise Eaton, with Phoebe Hilterman
- Landscape design, stonework, and trees
- Silas Riemer
- Aerial rigging and design
- Adam Bright and Cariel Klein
- Choreography
- Milena Dabova
- Lighting Design
- Mary Louise Geiger
- Associate Lighting design
- John Peitso
- Production Manager
- Jeff Bird
- Stage Manager
- Sandy Timmerman
- Costumiere
- Amanda Miller
- Lead Technician
- Andrew Todd
- Technicians
- Anoki Mann, Cheyenne Yu, Katy Huff, Karla Schnieder
- Executive Producer
- Adam Bright
- Co-Producer
- Cariel Klein
- General Manager
- Dylan Young
- DE Company Manager
- Justin Wellman
- Hospitality and Radical Care Team
- Tomantha Sylvester, Hannah Jarrell, Carlos Uriona
- Marketing, Documentation and Creative Team
- Travis Coe
- Chefs
- Robert Carlton, Sandy Timmerman
- Box Office and House management
- Sylvie Cove, Deb Clapp, Karla Schnieder
- Summer 2023 — Double Edge Theatre (Ashfield, MA)
- Summer 2022 — Double Edge Theatre (Ashfield, MA)
