Edinburgh-born David Greig adapted the distintinctively Scottich production of Euripides' Greek tragedy, The Bacchae. He discusses reaction to the controversial play.

How have you enjoyed your Edinburgh Festival run with The Bacchae?
Enormously…very much. Theatre’s such a collaborative process that it’s very rare to feel totally satisfied. But I really love the production, I love Alan Cumming’s work and all the actors. And on top of that it was selling out. For the author, and I speak on behalf of Euripides here, you can’t get better than that!

Was Alan Cumming always in your head as the man to play Dionysus?
Yes. Before I got the gig I knew Cumming was down to play Dionysus. There’s the opening line in the literal translation which is ‘My name is Dionysus, and I have returned…’  There was something super about that since Alan had been away for so long. Some of the stuff from his persona was used for Dionysus.

How close is the play to your vision?
My vision was essentially the vision of the director’s at the stage of writing― because I knew lots of things in advance. I knew they would use Gospel singers as the Chorus and also knew that the director was going to use theatrical glamour as a metaphor for Dionysian worship. So it’s not surprising that the play has lived up to my vision.

The costume and set contributed to the spectacle and drama. Did you get to enjoy any input in this?
Not really, I got the pleasure of seeing it before everybody else in the audience, but that was about it.

The Bacchae has had mixed reviews in the Press. How happy were you with the play overall?
Well, basically it’s had either 5-star rave reviews or 3-star reviews that say: “This play is too funny…this play is too entertaining.”

But there is quite a lot of comedy in play…
Tell me about it!  Honestly, it drives me completely mad that anybody I know that has any connection to Greek theatre knows that The Bacchae is a funny and quite camp play. A lot of reviewers don’t know that. They think that Greek theatre is and should be boring and difficult and hard to get into. That allows them to be the guardians of elite culture.

Our reviewer felt the chorus of girls (The Maenads) didn’t lift the play as they might have done. How might you describe their purpose in this modern version of the play?
The Chorus are The Bacchae, and The Bacchae are the beating heart of the play. What I tried to do was to make each chorus a unit of action. So one chorus is a lament for the imprisoned Dionysus and one chorus was an attempt to bring down the walls of the palace. I like the idioms of blues and gospel used. I knew that was going to be the case and I wrote with that in mind.

Any interesting stories associated with your writing of the play or the production itself?
There’s one I like which was when Alan said he was finding himself being very Dionysian with his Bacchae and one of them said:  “I know you’re with a man Alan, but you still get the horn when you look at us don’t you?” He does inhabit this man/woman thing – that fluid spirit…

Whats the next step for The Bacchae?
It’s going to have a London run.

The Bacchae has just ended its run at the Kings Theatre.

Related links 

Review:The Bacchae