Bakkhai - Almeida Theatre

Intense would be the word for this, I think.

Bakkhai at the Almeida (8^th August 2015): three male actors playing the main roles; a chorus of women speaking and singing in unison; a sparse set; no interval; words and music woven into some sort of spell of intensity.

It wasn’t all intense. There were moments of levity. Take Ben Whishaw’s androgyny contrasting with the sight of Bertie Carvel in drag, for instance, who was evidently playing it for laughs to begin with. Having seen Carvel in the RSC’s Matilda a few years ago, there was a definite hint of Miss Trunchbull lingering here.

I saw the National Theatre of Scotland’s production of The Bacchae (same story, different spelling) in 2007, and from what I remember, it was very different to this. That had a sense of spectacle, violence and exhilaration, while the Almeida’s Bakkhai was much quieter in comparison. More than being about excess, this was about control, in various forms.

Control and intensity and a sense of unease.