The Bacchae

An adaptation of Euripides' original Greek tragedy of power, gender, and morality, all through a unique Aotearoa perspective.

Journey to the city of Thebes in the heart of ancient Greece, and follow Dionysus - the god of festivities, fertility, and wine - into a confrontation with Pentheus, the latest in a long line of kings, and the first to oppose all that the god stands for. The collateral damage of their conflict drags in the king's innocent mother Agave, and the previous king Cadmus.

Sam Pretious is an emerging writer-director currently undertaking a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Otago. His previous work includes writing and directing an original one-act play, Lovestain, in February 2020 as part of the My Noisy Valentine event. In his Fringe Festival debut, he and his team weave together theatre, live music, and dance in a startling new adaptation of the mythic epic by Euripides, in partnership with the Dunedin City Library.