The Bacchae At the City Garage, Pentheus is drunk with power; his Armani-suited aides parrot his every thought; no one can resist the direction he is charting for his society — except the women. Rejecting his authority, they have disappeared into the hills, following a strange new god of sexuality, Dionysus. They have withdrawn into the dark, unknowable power of the ancient feminine, and Pentheus cannot bear it. He will return these crazed females to their proper place, contain them once again by male authority. But Dionysus, the ultimate seducer, persuades him that, ironically, the means to regain his power is to give it up — temporarily. If he wishes to gain access to the women’s secret orgies, he must become a woman himself. It is a Faustian bargain Pentheus cannot resist. City Garage 1340 1/2 Fourth St. Alley (Convenient parking in the neighboring parking structure No. 3, located on Fourth Street.) Sept. 8 through Oct. 22 Fridays and Saturdays at 8p.m.; Sundays at 5:30 p.m. Admission $20; students and seniors is $10 Sundays are “pay-what-you-can” Box office/reservations: (310) 319-9939 Mature situations and language. Nudity.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 8, 2006. Read the original PDF.