The Bacchae Trilogy February 20, 2009

Claire Trevor School of the Arts and Department of Drama present Euripides’ “The Bacchae Trilogy,” directed by Mihai Maniutiu, one of Romania’s most distinguished and esteemed theatre directors.

In this bold new production, Maniutiu makes his American debut as he brings his brilliant vision to this powerful Greek classic. Dynamic like a detective story, bloody like an Elizabethan text, inviting to meditation and debate like any play grasping the dimension of the sacred, "The Bacchae" provides a vivid incursion into the ambiguous and vast domain of the Dionysian. Euripides’ voice has very modern accents when it talks of wild exaltation and euphoria as liberation from any limits—and, equally, when it addresses the risks or dangers of such a boundless freedom. His is the voice of modernity formulating questions that we ourselves ask about the world in which we live today.

Maniutiu is a critically admired theorist, distinguished poet and novelist. He recently was featured in the 2007 National Romanian Theater Festival in Bucharest, presenting five productions. His productions have been seen in 17 countries, including a recent tour of Electra to Brussels and an upcoming tour of the same production this spring in Madrid. Mihai is currently directing his first film, plus an opera, and a new Romanian book is being published about his work.

Official Website: http://arts.uci.edu/events