Why a 2 400-year-old Greek tragedy is so relevant to South Africa today
· Citizen
More than 2 400 years after Euripides first penned The Bacchae, the ancient Greek tragedy is finding new life on a Johannesburg stage.
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But this is no dusty retelling of a classical text.
The Bacchae: An African Choral Ballet, a collaboration between Joburg Ballet and the University of Johannesburg’s Arts and Culture division, reimagines the story through South African music, movement and choral traditions, creating what is believed to be the world’s first choral ballet.
Director Jay Pather has collaborated with choreographer Mthuthuzeli November, composer Neo Muyanga, the 80-member UJ Choir and a live chamber orchestra.
The result is a work that explores power, freedom, spirituality and social upheaval through a distinctly African lens.
Why does The Bacchae still matter today?The Bacchae is about Dionysus, an abandoned god who returns to earth seeking revenge.
He represents instinct, freedom and the breaking of boundaries, while King Pentheus rules through control and repression.
It is a warning about imbalance, inequality and what happens when people are denied dignity for too long.
This production asks us to read the signs of upheaval and respond with compassion, empathy and real transformation.
What was the biggest challenge in bringing this production together?Mainly about working with such a large cast and finding common points of focus.
But the beauty of live singers of this magnitude and a ballet company of such quality promises a wonderful, unmissable experience.
How does this production speak to South African audiences?Wole Soyinka the great Nigerian playwright originally placed the Greek myth within an African context, in the form of a play.
Bringing this to a South African context and through essentially music and dance, the connection with this country lies in the themes.
The battle between true freedom and the abuse of power is immediately recognisable and relatable.
However, the capacity to recover and create is as forceful as the capacity to lash out, as a result of rage and continued abnegation and lack.
So ultimately, the work appeals to South Africans constant reach for healing and progress.
Neo Muyanga’s excellent score ends with these lines:
People learn their lesson slow
Skies are filled with grief and deceit
O city vast, your silence hides a cry
Where hopes and shadows lie
Neo Muyanga’s haunting score at its root, foregrounds the choral, a touchpoint for much of African music.
Collective voices represent the traditional Greek Chorus in a way that can only emerge from this continent.
Mthuthuzeli November’s choreography while faithful to the workings of a classical ballet company, astounds with its seamless integration of a composite language that locates the work here in South Africa.
And Jade Bouwer’s costume set are entirely being shaped by influences of contemporary African fashion from “power dressing” to shapes and form in set and costume that makes room for both spectacle and the intimacies of ritual.
The Bacchae director Jay Pather. Picture Sourced Princeton University What has stood out for you during rehearsals?How resonant the story is to all the performers, from the more mature soloists to the younger choral singers and dancers.
On one level this may seem like simply a “classical tale”, so the appeal across the generations is surprising.
In the hands of Muyanga and November, this is of course understandable and welcome.
What do you hope audiences take away from the performance?First and foremost the incredible power of dance and music to captivate and entertain.
But also, the power of dance and music to reach into our depths and serve as witness to our joys, our fears and our capacity for compassion.
What makes this production unique?This is not an interpretation of any existing classical ballet work.
There is nothing for the choreographer or the composer to fall back on except for the broad strokes of a large scale production and of course the text of a classic Greek story.
What this ballet is, is ultimately a brand new composition of a score by a South African composer with original choreography by a South African choreographer.
It is (deliciously) unique!
The Bacchae: An African Choral Ballet runs at Joburg Theatre from 3 to 12 July, with tickets priced from R125 to R700 and available through Webtickets.