Holland Festival: Elli Papakonstantinou, Ariah Lester, ODC Ensemble - The Bacchae

The Bacchae

The play opens in a futuristic, politically correct world with stifling gender labels under the guise of freedom of expression. A meteorite named Dionysus is expected to crash into and destroy Earth, but when Dionysus arrives, he calls for the fulfilment of everyone's deepest desires... Achieving this will require exploring possibilities and overcoming fears.

For the creators of The Bacchae, the concept of queer is more than a series of personal preferences. It is an opportunity to look at the world completely new, open way.

Papakonstantinou delves into the famous Greek tragedy about Dionysos (the god of wine and pleasure) and uses it to cross many borders. By collaborating with (opera) singers, including composer and performer Ariah Lester, and choreographers Cristophe Beranger and Jonathan Pranlas Descours, text theatre flows organically into music theatre, opera and dance.

An interactive sound design: a seismograph on stage registers the vibrations of the earth and the dancers, thus turning the stage floor into a musical instrument: the pulse of the cosmos.

Elli Papakonstantinou: 'As a director, I follow the waves of text, live music, video art and dance in search of a new performing language. This piece is at the crossroads of these streams: queer is a new aesthetic. It's a pop piece with classical opera outbursts, a dance piece with firmness at heart, and a cinematic concert: a Greek tragedy in the metaverse.'