Students will have the chance to experience Athenian culture when Southeastern goes Greek with the reproduction of the classic play, “The Bacchae.”
Originally written by playwright Euripides, the ancient tragedy will be performed in the Vonnie Borden Theatre from Nov. 13-16.
Cody Stockstill, the director of “The Bacchae,” was originally hired as a costume designer, and though this will be Stockstill’s first time directing at Southeastern he has had experience with directing in the past. In fact, this will be Stockstill’s second time to direct this particular play. Stockstill intends on implementing his visual perspective in the production of “The Bacchae.”
“I’m trained as a designer originally. That’s my primary role here at Southeastern. I bring a lot of visual storytelling to it. I want to tell the story, not only with the actual actors on stage, but how the actors are moving, the pictures and the visual aspects of the play,” said Stockstill.
“The Bacchae” is the story of the conflict between a young king and a god, and depicts the struggle between the two opposing authority figures.
“The play is about the god Dionysus and the king Pentheus,” said Stockstill. “Pentheus is a young king who has sort of an iron fist on the city of Thebes. He’s denied Dionysus his role as a god; he said that Dionysus is not a god. Dionysus comes to Thebes and Pentheus in disguise with a plan, not really for revenge, but a plan.”
 Stockstill expressed his appreciation for the metaphysical aspects of Greek theater, which is characteristic of producing many philosophical questions for the audience to think about, while also providing the liberty of thought by leaving the answers to those questions open to interpretation. “The Bacchae” is no exception, bringing up questions about religious and political authority.
“It asks questions about ‘How far do I go in self-expression?’ Do I give into everything that I want to do, or everything that I desire; the deep, dark desires that we all have inside? Or should I repress everything for the good of society? Do I follow someone blindly because it makes me feel good? Or do I really need to ask about the motives?'” said Stockstill. “In this particular sense, it’s political and religious. We have a god basically taking control of these people. At first it’s with their will. Like all great things, we hand over our freedom without a fight sometimes to these political leaders, or to these gods, or to these religions, and we don’t question their motives, and the questions and the motives of these gods and these political leaders in this particular show is really coming to heart.”
Stockstill said that the play will have a modern twist to make it more relatable to college students. Students can expect modern outfits, music and references to “bridge the gap” between modern students and ancient Athens.
Students planning to attend “The Bacchae” should prepare to be introspective upon leaving the theatre.
“Come with an open mind,” said Stockstill. “We ask a lot of questions; we don’t necessarily give a lot of answers. That’s up to the audience.”