When those in control become drunk with power, it is their followers who pay the consequences.
Should we be more questioning when swearing our allegiance to someone? Can a corrupt leader be entirely to blame when he leads his trusting followers to madness? These were some of the questions presented in Euripides’ “The Bacchae.”
Directed by Cody Stockstill, “The Bacchae” played from Nov. 13-16 in the Vonnie Borden Theatre and portrayed a modern interpretation of the ancient Greek tragedy.
This was Stockstill’s first time directing a play at Southeastern, as he was originally hired as a costume designer. The audience seemed impressed by the visual perspective that he brought to the theatre.  
“I loved it. It was awesome. All the sound effects, the costumes, were great,” said Kyra Phillips, freshman chemistry major who attended the play. “My favorite aspect of it was probably the Bacchae. I liked how they spoke so strongly and the way they danced with sharp movement. It was just great.”
The play depicted two opposing authority figures: the god Dionysus and the king Pentheus.
Dionysus, son of Zeus, was denied worship due to public disbelief of his parentage after the death of his mother.
To prove that he was a god, Dionysus drove women from the city of Thebes into a frenzied, trance-like state, luring them with sex and alcohol and bringing them to madness. These female worshippers were known as “the Bacchae.”
“I feel like his cover up was to avenge his mother’s death,” said Jordan Leggett, senior vocal performance major who played Dionysus. “But in reality it was just to prove that he was a god to people that didn’t believe that he was one. He wanted to prove that to people and just gain all the power that he could.”
Pentheus, played by communications sophomore Matthew Carona, is distraught by his own mother, Agave, played by Chelsea Krause a junior marketing and theatre major, becoming one of the Bacchae, issued a command that no one should worship Dionysus.
Though Pentheus and Dionysus were against each other, neither of them was clearly established as “the good guy.” Both of them use their power to control the people who followed them.
“Pentheus controlled his people by pure force. He’s a very powerful character, and he controls people with an iron fist,” said Stockstill. “Dionysus controls their minds, controls their bodies, as we see in the progression of the play, where it almost appears that he takes these women under control by force as well.”
The plot twists when Dionysus places Pentheus under his trance and leads him to the Bacchae.
Pentheus sees his mother among the Bacchae, and he tries to reason with her and make her come back home. Instead, she leads the Bacchae to attack him, and they rip off his head and mount it on a stick.
“At the beginning of the play, you sort of side with Dionysus, and then it does a 180 and it flips, and that horrible thing happens to Pentheus, and you start questioning the motives of Dionysus,” said Stockstill.
Agave runs to her father, showing off her hunt. She tells him that the Bacchae have just killed a lion with their bare hands. Her father is horrified, and eventually makes her realize that she has not killed a lion, but her own son. Agave is shunned, both from the Bacchae and the city of Thebes, and Dionysus reigns supreme.
The ultimate message of this tragedy is to question the motives of our leaders.
“My last thought is don’t follow someone simply because they have a powerful voice, or because someone says follow them,” said Stockstill. “Question why you follow them, and if you really believe what they’re saying.”