Car Chases and Severed Heads

Car Chases and Severed Heads

Hi BATS Mates

STAB 2003: A Theatre Revolution continues this week with the opening of The Bacchanals' spectacular production of Euripides' The Bacchae. Not to be missed!

STAB 2003 is commissioned by BATS Theatre, and funded by Creative New Zealand.

Hit reply to BOOK NOW. Tell us how many tickets you would like and when. You can pay when you attend the performance as we don't take credit card bookings. We will email to confirm your booking.

BATS xxx

The Bacchae Season: Friday 7th - Saturday 15th November, $10 preview Thursday 6th Time: 8pm Tickets: $15 full price $12 concession

The Bacchanals present their tenth show since their Fringe 2000 season of Aristophanes¹ The Frogs ­ an all-new, multi-media spectacular production of Euripides¹ bloodiest tragedy, The Bacchae. Using their new virtual software programme R.E.N.E., The Bacchanals will populate the world of ancient Greece with exploding castles, epic battle scenes, car chases and a CGI-ed cast of thousands. Think Gone with the Wind crossed with Clash of the Titans crossed with Brotherhood of the Wolf.

In The Bacchae, Dionysus (god of theatre, wine and cheese) visits the home of his mortal mother Semele to wreak vengeance on his family for disowning him. He drives every woman in the city into a Bacchic trance, guiles the arrogant Pentheus and in true Greek Tragedy fashion, it¹s not over ¹til someone brings on a severed head.

Director David Lawrence (³the Nick Cave of NZ classical theatre² ­ Salient) and fellow Bacchanals Eve Middleton, James Stewart, Alex Greig, Julia Harrison and Irene Flanagan combine their talents with the superb digital & visual skills of film-maker Willy Earle to defy somewhat the ancient Greek convention of keeping the violence offstage ­ but that¹s the cost of trying to create the biggest, most epic show ever seen on the BATS stage. It¹s not every day a theatre show budgets for 90 litres of blood.

The Bacchanals are a company dedicated to exploring text-based theatre and redefining classic works. Their productions have included Titus Andronicus (³worth seeing at five times the price² ­ Dominion), an award-winning Hamlet and the NZ premiere of Sarah Kane¹s Crave (³my god it¹s beautiful² ­ The Package). Earlier this year they toured the lower North Island with Twelfth Night.

³With such multi-talented actors lifting the NZ cultural scene and making their work accessible, theatre-goers of all ages may rejoice² ­ Wanganui Chronicle

www.thebacchanals.net