The Bacchae Cast

In The Bacchae of Euripedes:  A Communion Rite by Wole Soyinka, the god of wine and theater Dionysus and the famous Theban seer Tiresias are two of the play’s intriguing character. In the beginning of the play, Tiresias is the first character to closely interact with Dionysus. The initial interaction between Dionysus and Tiresias is interesting, which is the reason why I chose the characters to focus. If I were the director of the play The Bacchae, I would cast British actor Sam Hazeldine as Dionysus and British actor John Hurt as Tiresias.

In the beginning of the play, the god Dionysus is situated within his mother tomb and looks down upon the smoke from his feet. He is portrayed as angry and disappointed in the people of Thebes for not worshipping him as a god. Also, the people of Thebes have disrespected Dionysus’ mother, Semele, by calling her slut. In the play, Dionysus is described as beautiful, mischievous, and playful. British actor Sam Hazeldine would make a perfect Dionysus. I imagine Dionysus as blond and muscular, yet has a slim look. Sam Hazeldine is also blond and quite muscular for the role. I can see Hazeldine wearing a tunic and a wreath around his long blond curls. These features create a godlike character. Furthermore, he is handsome as Dionysus is described as beautiful. Recently, I have seen the movie The Raven, which Hazeldine is revealed as the mad and playful editor/murderer of the movie. However, Hazeldine’s character Ivan is first portrayed as innocent, but transform into an evil and mischievous newspaper editor. From this observation, Hazeldine embodies frivolity and mischievousness just like Dionysus when he plays tricks on Pentheus. As for setting the stage, I would have Hazeldine standing on top of his mother’s tomb looking out to the city of Thebes in disappointment. Hazeldine would stand tall and his fists would curl in anger because of the ignorance and rudeness of the Thebans.

As for Tiresias, he is described as a wise old man and seer. When Tiresias is being taunted by the floggers in the beginning of the play, I imagine Tiresias as a dirty and disheveled man that has been totured by the floggers. He is also thin and weak and does not have much power over people. I believe that British actor John Hurt would be an excellent choice to portray wise old Tiresias. From watching John Hurt acting as the estranged and demented, yet intelligent Professor Oxley in the Hollywood movie Indian Joes and the Kingdom of Skull, Hurt can easily act the character of Tiresias. I see Tiresias as a frail and thin, old man. Professor Oxley is also very thin and speaks intelligently of his knowledge.  When Dionysus meets Tiresias, Dionysus demands Tiresias to dance, which he does. This reminds me of Professor Oxley aimlessly wandering around in the forest in the Amazon from the enemies. In a way, he seemed likey he was dancing because he was swirving in circles with the skull in his hands. As for stage setting, I would have the lights dim and a little bit of fog surrounding Tiresias and Dionysus. This makes it look like they are alone and away from everybody. It also makes the scene personal and intimate between the characters. I would have Hurt dressed up in a brown and dusty tunic due to the incident with the floggers. The character of Tiersias really reminds me of Hurt. After the meeting of Dionysus, Tiersias meets Cadmus. From there, I would have Dionysus disappear in the fog, but his voice still echoes to Tiersias to dance. As Cadmus enters the scene, the fog disperses.