Bacchai

Euripedes (cyfieithiad Cymraeg gan Gareth Miles, cyfieithiad Saesneg gan Ian Brown)

Eryl Ellis

Rhodri Evan / Huw Garman / Owen Garmon / Christine Pritchard / Noel Wiliams / Geoffrey Morgan / Gareth Morris / Alun Elidir / Grug-Maria Davies / Rhian Davies / Nerys Lloyd / Nia Medi / Lisa Palfrey / Sian Rivers / Sian Summers

Mae'n argyfwng ar ddinas Thebai. Er mwyn dial ar y Brenin Penthews a'i deulu am sarhau enw Semele, mam Dionysios, a gwadu ei awdurdod ef, mae Dionysios wedi meddiannu holl fenywod Thebai a'u hudo i'r mynyddoedd .
Yno mae'r menywod - Y Bacchai - yn addoli Dionysios
Er gwaetha ymdrechion y proffwyd Teirisias, a'r cyn Frenin Cadmos i annog Penthews i gydnabod Dionysios, nid yw'r brenin ymffrostgar yn plygu. Mae dialedd Dionysios yn frawychus
Archwilia'r cynhyrchiad hwn y gwrthdaro rhwng cyfundrefn ac anrhefn, a rhwng rheswm a greddf, a'r ffin denau rhwng gwallgofrwydd a phwyll

Thebes is in crisis. Dionysos seeks revenge on King Pentheus and his family for denouncing his own divinity and insulting the memory of Semele, his mother. He has possessed all the women of Thebes, and charmed them into the mountains. There the women - the Bacchai - worship Dionysus
Despite the entreaties of the prophet Teiresias and the old King Cadmos, Penthus refuses to acknowledge Dionysus. The revenge of the god is horrifying.
This production examines the clash between order, chaos, reason and instinct, and the fine line between sanity and insanity.

"Drama oedd hon oedd yn canolbwyntio ar y corfforol a'r emosiynol o'r cychwyn cyntaf...nid wyf erioed wedi gweld drama debyg nac ychwaith yn dychmygu y gwnaf eto am amser maith maith.....Perfformiad y Corws fydd yn aros hiraf yn y cof. Yn dilyn traddodiad trasiedau Groegaidd nhw oedd yn cynnal y ddrama....Fe adewais y 'theatr' yn crynu, wedi cael ysgytwad a gwefr anhygoel. Mae Ceri Sherlock yn sicr yn gwybod sut i arbrofi'n llwyddiannus â'i gynulleidfa a chyflawni campwaith theatrig"
Y Faner 25/10/1991

"Gwnaed defnydd godidog o holl synhwyrau'r gynulleidfa, gan greu amgylchfyd lle roedd y meidrolion rywsut yn ymddangos yn amherffaith ochr yn ochr â'r elfennau"
Y Cymro 23/10/1991

"It starts with a naked Dionysus emerging from the thigh of a massive leg and abseiling down to a tank of water and it ends with blood-smeared, bare-breasted Bacchai weilding chainsaws and Agawe weeping over the severed head and flesh-ripped remains of her son. Ceri Sherlock's production....staged in a derelict cake factory on the edge of town is certainly no safe classical update.
The final emergence over a hill of the manic murdering women from the unseen but audible carnage, advancing on an audience that has moved from scene to scene throughout the site, is one of the most terrifying that I have witnessed . In between the stunning theatrics of the opening and closing scenes Euripides's classic of politics and power crosses the centuries from Thebes of mythology to that of modern male domination.
...This highly ambitious, if not entirely succesful production does work so well in many ways. The basic themes of order and chaos, of sexual politics, of ritual and reality, passion and power, and of the destructive nature of revenge, are here, and told in a style where the simplicity of the narrative conceals visual, political and cultural illusions. The rules of classical drama are adhered to in that we do not see the violence, but catharsis is achieved through a very immediate and recognisable terror. Ian Brown's script is sharp, Michael Rosas Cobian's music is superb and Eryl Ellis's design is stunning."
The Guardian

Hydref 1991