THE BACCHAE – a short history of decay

21 November 2019 | DCS2019

THE BACCHAE – a short history of decay

Bitola National Theatre
THE BACCHAE – a short history of decay
Based on Euripides’s eponymous work
Directed by Igor Vuk Torbica

“These are not only the Bacchae of Euripides; these are also our Bacchae, aware that the theatre is the most subversive weapon invented by human mind. It is the theatre that constitutes the public (the audience). The theatre that has become a place for the examination of society and of ourselves, the theatre that is not entertainment but that fights. For freedom.

And what freedom does it fight for? The long forgotten one, the one that had vanished the moment man stopped acknowledging anything except for power.” – Biljana Krajchevska

“Among the remaining and preserved Greek tragedies of Euripides, Bacchae stands out due to several reasons – its form and theme, probably the most important one is that Bacchae holds the allusion of the theatre itself and the fact that they present its hidden power and our civilization knowledge: the power of telling stories.

We can clearly state that Bacchae are the origin of the “metatheatrical” text. This text is a profound riddle for relativity and variability of our identity. A study for recognizing the divine and at the same time reminder that the divine can take many forms which we can neither accept nor recognize.

Bacchae is not a text that clearly reveals the division of protagonist – antagonist, text that draws a line between good and evil, rather reminds us that these opposites are created and formatted by man i.e. the man with his capability of defining and analyzing, is not able to understand the true nature of the apparent reality.

But, probably the most interesting issue we address in our play is: why our identity, instead the values we fight for, is above all constituted through ‘the other’ – a hostility towards an ‘external enemy’? Is that our way to hide the fact that ‘the real enemy among us – is ourselves?’; that we are strangers to ourselves and to others; and that nothing can sabotage us more effectively than the social barriers we have built between us.” – Igor Vuk Torbica

Played by
Dionysus Maja Andonovska-Ilijevski
Pentheus Ognen Drangovski
Tiresias Sonja Mihajlova
Cadmus Ivan Jerčič
Agave Ilina Čorevska
Messenger Martin Mirčevski
Servant Vasko Mavrovski
The Leader of the Chorus Viktorija Stepanovska-Jankulovska
Chorus Bacchae Valentina Gramosli, Petar Spirovski, Sandra Gribovska, Anastazia Hristovska

Dramaturge Biljana Krajčevska
Scenography Valentin Svetozarev
Costume design Blagoj Micevski
Assistant director Jovan Ristovski
Music design Aleksandar Dimovski
Lighting design Ilija Dimovski, Goran Petrovski
Sound design Nikolče Terzievski
Special effects, hair and makeup Sašo Martinovski
Stage manager Miroslav Lazarevski

105’