The University of Rhode Island theatre department is preparing their upcoming production of “Bakkhai,” a student-run play following the path of the Greek god, Dionysus.
The tragedy explores themes of familial rejection, denial of identity and navigating life as a whole, according to Theo Fantozzi, a fourth-year student studying theatre and classics, and the director of “Bakkhai.”
To start off the play, Dionysus returns home to the city where he was born and discovers that the current leader there, Penthius, is in denial of his status as a god, according to Fantozzi. He then disguises himself as a human and goes into the city to convince the people, and Penthius himself, to worship the god.
The rest of the play unfolds following the relationship between the two gods and their realization that it’s generally a bad idea to try and deny a god what he wants.
“It’s been at the back of my mind through the past few years, and I really wanted something that allowed me to finish out my senior year using both my theatre and classics education,” Fantonzzi said. “This play and particularly this translation really speaks to current times and problems and fears, and I think it’s really special to be able to do that with such an old work.”
Ella Kenny, a fourth-year double-majoring in theatre and film media studies, and one of the lead actors playing both Dionysus and Teirsius, is looking forward to the final few weeks of rehearsals.
“Throughout this process I’ve been able to let go of a lot of self-consciousness that I hold when it comes to emotional storytelling,” Kenny said. “Theo has created such a safe space for me to explore a wide range of emotions that this show requires. Being vulnerable has always been a struggle of mine, but this show has opened me up to letting others in.”
Of the four productions presented by the URI Theatre department each year, this is the only one that is fully student run. In total, the production includes around 50 people, including cast, crew, stage design, costumes and technology.
“Genuinely there isn’t a single thing that I’m not excited for,” Kenny said. “I’m going to savor this final week of rehearsals and then we jump straight into tech, which in my psychotic opinion, is so much fun.”
There have been some bumps along the way, including some problems with lining up the live chorus to the rest of the production, according to Fantozzi. The chorus acts as the band in this production and serves as storytellers, while singing entirely original compositions, resulting in a lot of prep work to make it run smoothly. Despite complications, the cast has found ways to move past them throughout their rehearsals.
“We’ve found a lot more movement and dance than we were expecting going into this,” Fantozzi said. “So there’s been some trial-and-error of just figuring out what works best for their bodies and what tells the story most clearly.”
Rehearsals have taken place for several hours a day, six days a week in preparation for the production at the end of this month. The three lead roles are played by Ella Kenny, Jake Deshiro and Jackie Johnson, with three others in the chorus and a few understudies, according to Fantozzi.
“I’m looking forward to being able to get an audience in the space with us and to highlight all the work that the production and design team have been doing,” Fantozzi said. “Everyone’s been delivering really high quality work throughout the process and I think everyone has risen to the challenge.”
The play will open on Feb. 27 with shows every night at 7:30 p.m. until March 1 and a final production at 2 p.m. on March 2. Tickets can be purchased on their website.
