Written by Euripedes Translation by Bryan Doerries '94 Directed by Michael Calderone Stage Managed by Erica Seaborne Costumes by Susanne Swain Choreography by Stephanie Oakes '01 Technical Support by Heather O'Toole

Director’s Note:

The students from my senior’s English/directing elective last year developed ideas for restaging The Bacchae which ranged from setting the play in a tropical resort to a German rave concert. Their discussions and projects got me thinking about how important The Bacchae is to theatrical history. Euripides wrote it in a time when society needed to be reminded of the importance of theatre. Without theatre, without balance in our lives, we focus on existing and forget about living.

I wanted to bring this classical piece of dramatic literature to HRA to make some of the same points Euripides made. This production, however, needed to shake off dusty notions of ancient texts by being exciting and relevant to our students. That is how I chose to set the play in the early 1970’s in front of a backdrop of classic rock & roll.

My last problem was finding a translation that matched this concept. After a fruitless search in libraries, bookstores and on line, I found I did not have to look farther than HRA. Bryan Doerries graduated from HRA in 1994 and has been translating and producing ancient texts in New York City for the last few years. How lucky we are to have such a fresh script come from one of our own. We sincerely hope we do the translation justice.

Special Thanks:
Tom Harvey, Jim Lewis, Dave Keefe and his staff, Michael Mason, The Mikels, HRA Development, Friends of the Arts, Jennifer Padfield, Alice Rubinstein, Mrs. Ryburn, and anyone else we may have overlooked. Program cover art by Sarah Dylla. Additional program art by Madeline LeCuyer and Matt Ryburn.

Michael Calderone