Word: pentheus
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...students by this point, but a quick summary shall be provided for those who are still confused: Dionysos is angry because the people of Thebes are refusing to worship him. He hypnotizes the town's women into running maniacally wild in the mountains. They are known as the Bacchae. Pentheus, the ruler of Thebes, tries to capture Dionysos in his human form. He also humiliates the god and his female band of helpers, called Maenads. Pentheus's secret desire to watch the lurid actions of the Bacchae is so strong, however, that Dionysos easily tricks him into dressing...
...earlier production), Keane demonstrates a rich range of emotions. The audience laughs when he drops self-adoring one-liners, sighs when the Maenad chorus drapes themselves over him, shudders when he hollers in anger. This Dionysos is a creature with genuine power, which makes the foreshadowing of Pentheus's death even darker...
Benjamin Evett is perfect as the borderline-scummy Pentheus. He and his arrogant band of secret service agents, complete with slicked hair and alligator-green suits (and, yes, sandals), really make it easy to hate this pompous leader who mocks his own grandfather. By the time Pentheus succumbs to Dionysos's offer of a chance to watch the Bacchae, and shamefully puts on a dress as the Maenads hoot and catcall, the audience feels little pity towards him. His imminent doom is not a tragedy; it is simply a foolish leader's receiving his just desserts. Yet during the drag...
Brown's monologue, pivotal, since it relates the dismemberment of Pentheus--which was, wink-wink, the denouement--manages to avoid Joe Friday prosaics. It has of course a blow-by-blow, factual aspect, but Brown illuminates its sorrow and terror...
Especially in the fast-moving dialogue, Williams' translation is witty--and the production benefits. Compare the literal Greek of Pentheus' sarcasm (Hos thrasus ho Bakhos, How insolent is this Bacchus!) with Williams' "Bacchic backtalk!" Again in the same scene "Deinos su deinos kapi dein' erkhei pathe (I need a macron)," "You are wonderful, wonderful" (Laurence Welk, anybody?) "And wonderful are the experiences you go to meet" becomes in Williams "You are awe-inspiring. Your outcome will inspire awe." The translation and the production share the great felicity of exaltation in the words themselves...