Ritual Performance - Dionysus and The Bacchae

Course for actors, performers, directors, teachers with Dimitris Tsiamis

"Art and ritual, from the depths of antiquity, are inextricably linked. In contemporary theatre we observe a re-approach of the ritual through performances that seek a more substantial connection with the Other and the Unknown, focusing on the transformative and transcendental character of the artistic experience."
Dimitris Tsiamis

How familiar are we and how well do we know Dionysus, the God of Theater? Dionysus, the youngest and most famous Olympian god, the God with the dozens of names (Bacchus, Bromios, Eleuthereus, etc.) and the countless appearances (God of wine and ecstasy, god of fruitfulness and vegetation, etc.) is also the most enigmatic. Which versions of Dionysus do we meet in Euripides’ Bacchae and how much does the tragedy help us to understand him? To what extent could the understanding of Dionysus mean a deeper understanding of Theater?

In Euripides’ Bacchae, the arrival of Dionysus does not project a world “like a fairy tale” but a primitive world in which the forms of every creative and destructive element are revealed. Dionysus asks us to acknowledge his divine existence and to follow him even if we have not understood him. He introduces us to his ceremonies and cults so as the City can benefit from them. He punishes the political power – the tyrants – who do not honor him.

Continuing the line of online courses on the relationship between Ritual and Theater the aim of the course is to introduce the participants to the myth and spirit of Dionysus, as well as to Euripides tragedy of the Bacchae that – more than any other Greek tragedy – has been for a long time the focus of an intense interpretative argument. We will approach the Bacchae of Euripides through the principles of Ritual Performance practice and we will investigate practically – as a ritual – the arrival of Dionysus, his entry on stage and his first and so decisive monologue in the play, which announces the mysterious and contradictory elements of his nature.