The Bacchae was shot in the autumn of 2000, three years after director Brad Mays' highly successful, award-nominated theatrical production of Euripides' play at the Complex in Los Angeles. Originally conceived on a larger scale than what eventually went into production, the film suffered tremendously from budget cuts and artistic differences, most particularly between the director and co-producer John Morrissey (American History X).[1]
Story
Having established his divinity in eastern lands, Dionysus - the god of wine - returns to Thebes, land of his birth as well as his mortal mother Semele's horrible and shameful death. Angered over his homeland's refusal to acknowledge his divine nature, the son of Zeus intends to establish the worship which he insists is now his due. Having put a spell on all the local women, a great celebration of dance and wine takes place in the nearby Glens of Cithaeron, attended even by the former king Cadmus and blind prophet Teiresias. When word of this outlandishness reaches Pentheus, the young and rational King of Thebes, he orders the immediate arrest of the blonde stranger responsible for the mayhem. Unaware that his strange prisoner is a god, Pentheus refuses to even consider the possibility that Bacchic worship has a place in the modern world. Unable to endure such an affront, the god Dionysus casts a spell over the young king and leads him into the mountains, where he is ultimately torn limb from limb by the ecstatic worshippers, whose number now includes Pentheus' own mother, Agave.
Background
Opening ritual in The Bacchae, directed by Brad Mays, 2000.
King Pentheus (Jonathan Klein) in drag The Bacchae, directed by Brad Mays, 2000.
Director Brad Mays' 1997 stage production of The Bacchae had been a surprise hit in Los Angeles, drawing large audiences and earning excellent reviews.[2][3][4] It was ultimately nominated for three LA Weekly Theatre Awards, for Production Design,Original Musical Score, and Direction.[5] Considered particularly noteworthy was the production's use of ample though non-exploitive full-frontal nudity, most particularly in scenes portraying ritualized pagan worship and, ultimately, the violent ritual killing of the character Pentheus, king of Thebes. A major contributing factor in the production's effectiveness was the movement scoring by choreographer Kim Weild, a practitioner of the Suzuki method of dance/movement. In the months which followed the production's closing, its creators began to ponder the feasibility of an independently produced film version. Several of the stage production's cast were invited to re-create their roles for the film which, according to Eric Grode in an article written for the entertainment industry publication Playbill, was also to include British actors Brian Blessed and Alan Bates. Citing audience "fist fights" over theatre tickets for the stage production, Grode anticipated an exciting, hard-hitting contemporary film version, "as edgy as any Tarantino knock-off," promising "nudity, gore and rock music galore."[6] Unfortunately, the notion of a contemporary film adaptation of a 2,500-year-old play was eventually seen as impossibly risky, and much of the committed funding was ultimately withdrawn. A stripped-down version of the script was shot and edited, with decidedly uneven results. Director Mays and producer Starfelt decided to let the film go and, despite intense interest and numerous rumors to the contrary, have yet to seek distribution.
In 2009, director Brad Mays, along with Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka, stage director Richard Schechner, and actor Alan Cumming was invited to discuss Euripides' The Bacchae as part of a web series Invitation to World Literature, which officially launched on Annenberg Media's educational website in September, 2010.[7] The series, produced by Annie Wong for WGBH Boston, also began airing nationally on PBS in October, 2010. Clips from Mays' film were heavily used in the program.
"Primal Time - Euripides Revisited" - Article by Steven Leigh Morris, LA Weekly, July 11–17, 1987
"Daring Bacchae Delves Into Modern Psyche" - Phillip Brandes, Los Angeles Times, July 4, 1997
References
^Hall, Edith; Macintosh, Fiona; Wrigley, Amanda (2005). "Dionysus since 69: Greek Tragedy at the Dawn of the Third Millennium". Oxford University Press. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^Brandes, Phillip (July 4, 1997). "Daring Bacchae Delves Into Modern Psyche (Review)". Los Angeles Times.]
^Morris, Steven Leigh (July 11–17, 1997). "Primal Time - Euripides Revisited (Featured Review)". LA Weekly.]
^Corcoran, Patrick (July 10–16, 1997). "A Bacchanalian Delight (Review)". LA New Times.
^Staff, Theater (1998-04-15). "Monsters Galore | Theater | Los Angeles | Los Angeles News and Events". LA Weekly. Retrieved 2014-07-31.
^. Playbill.com. 1999-05-23. Archived from the original on October 31, 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
^"Watch / The Bacchae / Invitation to World Literature". Learner.org. Retrieved 2014-07-31.
^Weaver, Neal (2001-05-09). "Grin and Bare It | Theater | Los Angeles | Los Angeles News and Events". LA Weekly. Retrieved 2014-07-31.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Bacchae (film).
bacchae, film, bacchae, independent, film, adaptation, euripides, play, bacchae, produced, lorenda, starfelt, john, morrissey, directed, brad, mays, bacchaedionysus, richard, werner, bacchae, directed, brad, mays, 2000, directed, bybrad, mayswritten, bybrad, m. The Bacchae is an independent film adaptation of Euripides play The Bacchae produced by Lorenda Starfelt and John Morrissey and directed by Brad Mays The BacchaeDionysus Richard Werner in The Bacchae directed by Brad Mays 2000 Directed byBrad MaysWritten byBrad Mays adapted from EuripidesProduced byLorenda Starfelt John MorrisseyStarringRichard Werner Jonathan Klein Lynn Odell William Dennis Hunt Will Shepherd Ramona Reeves Elyse Ashton Kiersten MorganCinematographyJacob PingerEdited byBrad MaysMusic byPeter GirardRunning time88 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglish Contents 1 Production 2 Story 3 Background 4 Related articles and reviews 5 References 6 External linksProduction EditThe Bacchae was shot in the autumn of 2000 three years after director Brad Mays highly successful award nominated theatrical production of Euripides play at the Complex in Los Angeles Originally conceived on a larger scale than what eventually went into production the film suffered tremendously from budget cuts and artistic differences most particularly between the director and co producer John Morrissey American History X 1 Story EditHaving established his divinity in eastern lands Dionysus the god of wine returns to Thebes land of his birth as well as his mortal mother Semele s horrible and shameful death Angered over his homeland s refusal to acknowledge his divine nature the son of Zeus intends to establish the worship which he insists is now his due Having put a spell on all the local women a great celebration of dance and wine takes place in the nearby Glens of Cithaeron attended even by the former king Cadmus and blind prophet Teiresias When word of this outlandishness reaches Pentheus the young and rational King of Thebes he orders the immediate arrest of the blonde stranger responsible for the mayhem Unaware that his strange prisoner is a god Pentheus refuses to even consider the possibility that Bacchic worship has a place in the modern world Unable to endure such an affront the god Dionysus casts a spell over the young king and leads him into the mountains where he is ultimately torn limb from limb by the ecstatic worshippers whose number now includes Pentheus own mother Agave Background Edit Opening ritual in The Bacchae directed by Brad Mays 2000 King Pentheus Jonathan Klein in drag The Bacchae directed by Brad Mays 2000 Director Brad Mays 1997 stage production of The Bacchae had been a surprise hit in Los Angeles drawing large audiences and earning excellent reviews 2 3 4 It was ultimately nominated for three LA Weekly Theatre Awards for Production Design Original Musical Score and Direction 5 Considered particularly noteworthy was the production s use of ample though non exploitive full frontal nudity most particularly in scenes portraying ritualized pagan worship and ultimately the violent ritual killing of the character Pentheus king of Thebes A major contributing factor in the production s effectiveness was the movement scoring by choreographer Kim Weild a practitioner of the Suzuki method of dance movement In the months which followed the production s closing its creators began to ponder the feasibility of an independently produced film version Several of the stage production s cast were invited to re create their roles for the film which according to Eric Grode in an article written for the entertainment industry publication Playbill was also to include British actors Brian Blessed and Alan Bates Citing audience fist fights over theatre tickets for the stage production Grode anticipated an exciting hard hitting contemporary film version as edgy as any Tarantino knock off promising nudity gore and rock music galore 6 Unfortunately the notion of a contemporary film adaptation of a 2 500 year old play was eventually seen as impossibly risky and much of the committed funding was ultimately withdrawn A stripped down version of the script was shot and edited with decidedly uneven results Director Mays and producer Starfelt decided to let the film go and despite intense interest and numerous rumors to the contrary have yet to seek distribution In 2009 director Brad Mays along with Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka stage director Richard Schechner and actor Alan Cumming was invited to discuss Euripides The Bacchae as part of a web series Invitation to World Literature which officially launched on Annenberg Media s educational website in September 2010 7 The series produced by Annie Wong for WGBH Boston also began airing nationally on PBS in October 2010 Clips from Mays film were heavily used in the program Related articles and reviews EditCritic Neal Weaver discusses onstage nudity 8 Primal Time Euripides Revisited Article by Steven Leigh Morris LA Weekly July 11 17 1987 Daring Bacchae Delves Into Modern Psyche Phillip Brandes Los Angeles Times July 4 1997References Edit Hall Edith Macintosh Fiona Wrigley Amanda 2005 Dionysus since 69 Greek Tragedy at the Dawn of the Third Millennium Oxford University Press a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help Brandes Phillip July 4 1997 Daring Bacchae Delves Into Modern Psyche Review Los Angeles Times Morris Steven Leigh July 11 17 1997 Primal Time Euripides Revisited Featured Review LA Weekly Corcoran Patrick July 10 16 1997 A Bacchanalian Delight Review LA New Times Staff Theater 1998 04 15 Monsters Galore Theater Los Angeles Los Angeles News and Events LA Weekly Retrieved 2014 07 31 STAGE TO SCREEN Waiting For Bradford s Bacchae and sic Burton s Barber Playbill com 1999 05 23 Archived from the original on October 31 2014 Retrieved 4 March 2016 Watch The Bacchae Invitation to World Literature Learner org Retrieved 2014 07 31 Weaver Neal 2001 05 09 Grin and Bare It Theater Los Angeles Los Angeles News and Events LA Weekly Retrieved 2014 07 31 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Bacchae film The Bacchae at IMDb Video Clips from Brad Mays independent film version of The Bacchae Still Photos amp Full Video Stream from Brad Mays 1997 stage production of The Bacchae Stratford Shakespeare Festival Background Book 2008 includes links for Brad Mays production of Trojan Women Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Bacchae film amp oldid 1116537012, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
