''The Bacchoi'' is a

rock musical A rock musical is a musical theatre work with rock music. The genre of rock musical may overlap somewhat with album musicals, concept albums and song cycles, as they sometimes tell a story through the rock music, and some album musicals and concep ...

with book and lyrics by Bryan Nason and music by Ralph Tyrrell, based on ''

The Bacchae ''The Bacchae'' (; , ''Bakkhai''; also known as ''The Bacchantes'' ) is an ancient Greek tragedy, written by the Athenian playwright Euripides during his final years in Macedonia, at the court of Archelaus I of Macedon. It premiered posthumou ...

'' by

Euripides Euripides () was a Greek tragedy, tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to ...

Productions

It was first performed in a 1970 student production which opened the University of Queensland's

Schonell Theatre The Schonell Cinema & Live Theatre is a venue for theatre, special events and cinema screenings in Brisbane, Australia. It consists of Theatre One: a 420-seat, single auditorium theatre capable of hosting musical performances, plays and lecture ...

. It opened on 24 September and ran for 15 performances. The production was choreographed by Keith Bain, with a cast including

Geoffrey Rush Geoffrey Roy Rush (born 6 July 1951) is an Australian actor. Known for often playing eccentric roles on both stage and screen, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Geoffrey Rush, numerous accolades, including an Academy Aw ...

and Ross Thompson. It received positive reviews in the Australian. Nimod Theatre Company in Sydney gave the professional premiere in 1974 as the inaugural production at the new

Nimrod Theatre ''Nimrod Theatre Company'' is an Australian theatre company. The Nimrod Theatre Company, commonly known as The Nimrod, was an Australian theatre company based in Sydney. It was founded in 1970 by Australian actors John Bell, Richard Wherret ...

, with a cast including

Jon English Jonathan James English (26 March 1949 – 9 March 2016) was an English-born Australian singer, songwriter, musician and actor. He emigrated from England to Australia with his parents in 1961. He was an early vocalist and rhythm guitarist for S ...

Jeannie Lewis Jean Ethel "Jeannie" Lewis (born 8 January 1945) is an Australian musician and stage performer whose work covers many different styles such as folk, jazz, Latin, blues, opera, rock and fusion.McFarlane'Jeannie Lewis'entry. Archived frothe origin ...

, Peter Carroll,

Drew Forsythe Drew Forsythe (born 23 August 1949) is an Australian actor, singer, writer, and comedian. He has appeared on film, stage, and television, as well as in satirical sketch comedy television programs. Early life Born in New South Wales to newsage ...

Tony Llewellyn-Jones Tony Llewellyn-Jones is a British-born Australian actor. He was nominated for the 1976 AFI Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his role in '' Picnic at Hanging Rock''. Born in London, England, Llewellyn-Jones lived in Singapore, Kua ...

, Peter Chambers, Roger Newcombe,

Anna Volska Anna Volska (born 1 December 1944 in Milanówek, Poland) is an Australian stage and television actress. She arrived in Australia when she was young and has acted from a young age. Early life Anna Volska moved from Poland to Australia with h ...

, Julia Lyndon and Sharon Murphy. The production was directed by John Bell. This production received less favorable reviews than its 1970 premiere. The text was published in 2003 in the collection ''The Journey Plays: the work of Bryan Nason'' published by Playlab Press.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bacchoi, The 1974 musicals 1970s Australian musicals Rock musicals Works based on The Bacchae Musicals based on plays