Tuesday, 20 October 2026
Revenge, madness and murder … Euripides’ The Bacchae might have been written around 405 BC but it has all the components of a modern-day drama.
In Euripides’ play, Dionysus – the god of winemaking, theatre, excess and mad ritual – returns to his birthplace of Thebes to revenge the death of his mother and punish the King of Thebes for refusing to allow the people to worship him.
Now, after two years of creative development, this ancient Greek tragedy has been reimagined through a contemporary Western Australian lens by Yamatji/Noongar theatre director Kyle Morrison, in collaboration with WAAPA’s 3rd Year Performance Making students and composer David McEwan.
The Bacchae will be performed from 12 to 18 November in the Flex Theatre at the ECU City campus.
“The Bacchae is interesting Dreaming that has existed as long as Noongar Dreaming,” says Morrison. “Euripides was channelling something that I think is valid for us to talk about these days, the Dreaming of wine, which has been a question for this country for about 200 years.”
The extended development process has allowed Morrison and the students time to explore different translations of the play in their search for modern themes from these ancient stories, while David McEwan has created an original score for the production.
The result is a play that wrestles with questions of power, ecstasy, and belonging – a charged meeting of myth, movement and music that asks: “What happens to the children of a community when the parents go out to party, when they are focused on pleasure not responsibility?”
Morrison says: “WAAPA’s version of The Bacchae will be surreal, a kind of modern electric Dreaming.”
Recommended for ages 13+
Content warnings: Depictions of violence, references to consumption of alcohol, loud noises, horror themes. Use of strobe, smoke and haze.
PERFORMANCE INFORMATION: THE BACCHAE
Thu 12 – Wed 18 November, 2026 at 7.30pm, matinee Sat 14 November at 2.30pm
Flex Theatre, WAAPA, ECU City Campus, 500 Wellington St, Perth (use Roe St entrance)
Written and directed by Kyle Morrison based on The Bacchae by Euripides
Performed by WAAPA 3rd Year Performance Making students
Tickets: $40 Full / $35 Concession / $33 WAAPA Friends
BOOK NOW
Tel (08) 6304 6895 or online at www.waapa.ecu.edu.au