Scottish theatre company Company of Wolves is touring the country with a radical reimagination of The Bacchae, as a solo work by Ewan Downie, inspired by Euripides and directed by Ian Spink (1947-2023).
The story, exposing Dionysus as a mind at war with itself, originally premiered in Athens in 405BC, and this is a fiery new physical re-telling, set against a backdrop of neon lights and shiny supermarket cages, with a twisting and evocative soundscape.
Written and performed by Downie (Julius Caesar, Achilles, Company of Wolves) and directed by Spink (The Vanishing Bridegroom, Scottish Opera; Petruska, Scottish Ballet), it features original songs by Downie and Anna Porubcansky; the play is an earth-shattering tale of rejection, vengeance and rebirth, woven together through storytelling, dance and ancient song. Five mythological characters are embodied by Ewan: the god Dionysus, his father Zeus and mother Semele, her sister Agave, and Agave’s son Pentheus, King of Thebes. The story blurs the lines between binaries: human and animal, male and female, victim and perpetrator – a hymn of rebirth for our shattered selves, taking audiences on a transformative journey from repression and denial to renewal and release.
The production was acclaimed during its run at 2025’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and is set to return to Edinburgh (the Studio, Capital Theatres), Stromness (Town Hall) and Cromarty Hall, Orkney, Aberdeen (the Lemon Tree), Stirling (the Macrobert arts centre), Peebles (Eastgate, Melrose (Corn Exchange, with Live Borders), Wigton (The Merse) and New Galloway (CatStrand, with Dumfries and Galloway Arts Festival), with more dates expected to be added.
Having been developed closely with the School of Classics at the University of St Andrews, with set and costume design by Alisa Kalyanova, sound design by Anna Porubcansky and lighting design by Katharine Williams. It was Spink’s final collaboration – Australian-born, in 1977, after touring with Merce Cunningham, he moved to the UK, where he worked until his death in 2023, and this production is a testament to his widely-acclaimed and much-missed talent.
All images: Louise Mather.
