Bacchae: Prelude to a Purge by Marlene Monteori Freitas

Sadler’s Wells, London
June 18, 2024

An evening of very mixed feelings. In one way, it was quite possibly the worst theatre evening ever. And yet, at times, it was maddingly engaging. Creativity taken beyond a point, to where it tumbles into meaningless absurdity. The chaos that is at the heart of the piece, becomes not chaos, but tightly controlled, highly choreographed, mind-bending repetition as the same sequences of moves are played out over and over again.

So, what is Bacchae: Prelude to a Purge about? I wish I knew! Produced, directed, and choreographed by Marlene Monteori Freitas, it is billed as an exploration of the depths of the moral and aesthetic world between Apollo and Dionysius. Freitas has won many awards, among them the Prize for Best International Performance from Les Prémis de la Critica d’Arts Escèniques of Barcelona.

The dancers are uncredited, as are the six trumpeters who produce the main soundtrack. As the audience file into their seats, the cacophony has already begun; and it doesn’t let-up for two hours. At times it was so sharply high-pitched, that I had to cover my ears.

The dancers perform movement sequences, rather after the fashion of a cartoon on an endless loop. Dancing seldom features, at least as many would understand it, but the stamina required to execute the choreography is astounding. Towards the end, three female dancers maintain a sequence of bouncing on stools for near twenty minutes.

There are moments of breathtaking creativity, and real humour. The control displayed by the dancers is stunning, each movement crisp and clipped, while the trumpeters are highly skilled in their chaotic musical rendition.

There is a great deal of explicit sexual imagery, using props, but repeated so often that it loses its way, and its why. In the middle of the evening, we are presented with a black-and-white silent film of a woman giving birth from a full-frontal perspective. The audience did not know how to react to this, and you could hear a pin drop for the entire duration. It was uncomfortable. Nervous laughter greeted the return to the bacchanal chaos.

Perhaps the biggest problem with Bacchae: Prelude to a Purge is simply that it’s over-long. Repetition is fine and can be effective, but up to a point. When it becomes endless, sequences lose both impact and focus. Quite a few people left mid-piece. You can understand why.

Bacchae will stay with me for a long time, as will the images of a newborn emerging from the virgina, but sadly not for the right reasons. And I am still left with the question: Why?