A faltering start for the National’s new director

Olivier Theatre, National Theatre

Indhu Rubasingham has started her first programme of events as the National Theatre’s new Artistic Director with a headline grabbing choice- the first time a debut play has been staged in the giant Olivier auditorium. Nima Taleghani has written a new version of Euripides’ Bacchae that takes a feminist view of the tragedy and uses rap and rude comedy to make his points about family loyalty, political power and human desire.
There was something of a gender division in the reviews. The three 4 star reviews were all by women, who found it entertaining. Coincidentally, the rest were by men (apart from The Guardian’s Arifa Akbar) and ranged from 3 to 2 to a paltry 1 from The Times’ Clive Davis who called it ‘a travesty’.

[Links to full reviews are included but a number are behind paywalls and therefore may not be accessible]

4 stars ★★★★

The Independent‘s Alice Saville declared: ‘It’s a headspinningly smart, visually spectacular, and hugely entertaining opening move from new National Theatre artistic director Indhu Rubasingham.’ She continued: ‘for all his play’s delicious bloodthirstiness and queer excess, Taleghani also explores the pressures within protest movements with surprising subtlety.’

Sarah Crompton of WhatsOnStage reported: ‘As a statement of intent, the production couldn’t be more bold. From the dazzling opening when a huge, ghostly horse drops through a lighted ring from the flies, to the direct challenge of a closing scene which asserts the power of theatre as a forum for debate in a messy world, it has confidence stamped all through it.’ She noted: ‘Events unfold with remarkable pace on Robert Jones’ impressive set, which piles four square platforms on top of one another, spinning, rising and lowering them to create different dynamics within the space’. Her greatest praise is reserved for the director: ‘Within this vibrant setting, Rubasingham marshals the action with absolute assurance. She’s brilliant at driving things forward, but also at creating tableaux that constantly focus the eye on the important thing.’

Marianka Swain at LondonTheatre was impressed by the playwright’s ‘colloquial yet lyrically dexterous, rhyme-packed spoken-word poetry building to audacious rap, and, with anarchic wit and judicious changes, bringing a classic bang up to date.’ The director, too: ‘Rubasingham’s assured production balances emotional moments and heavier subjects with zippy irreverence.’ She ended: ‘I for one can’t wait to see what else Rubasingham has in store.’

3 stars ★★★

The Guardian’s Arifa Akbar laid into the writing: ‘the script often sounds off-key: unfocused, tonally untextured, its knockabout comedy smothering the emotional core of the play.’ She continued: ‘The raps burst with verve and a speed of ideas but lack the sharpness, poetry and emotional power to make the satire soar. The humour is hit-and-miss, characters broad and clownish.’ There was good news: ‘Rubasingham’s direction is nevertheless as polished as ever and the show has pace, with thrilling lighting by Oliver Fenwick…Kate Prince’s movement is a highlight and it is in the interludes of dance…that the show feels at its most elemental.’

The Standard‘s Nick Curtis wasn’t so sure: ‘If it were a triumph, life would be easier; the National in safe hands, theatre saved. If it were a dud everyone could cluck and crow. Instead it’s both, and also everything in between. Refugees, feminism, gender, sexuality, dictators, set to rap and dance…this is a production of wild mood swings, mediated through a production whose beauty often outstrips its substance.’

The Telegraph‘s Dominic Cavendish said: ‘It’s a relief to report that Rubasingham – the first person of colour and the first woman to run the NT – passes her high-pressure test in surprisingly flamboyant style (aided by a shifting set of giant slabs by designer Robert Jones), and, though it takes time to emerge, with a saving dollop of substance… it serves as a statement of intent about the kind of populist, accessible work that Rubasingham, 55, intends to programme.’

Describing the evening as ‘entertainingly messy’, Time Out‘s Andrjez Lukowksi said: ‘It’s fun to spend time with [the characters], as they swear and argue and rage, but there’s the nagging sense that it’s not clear where their story is going. Frankly it also seems a bit unexpected that a male writer would be out to reclaim Bacchae as a feminist work.’ He advised: ‘There’s … the question as to whether it even works as a tragedy after all Taleghani’s fiddling, jokes, microsubversions and humanising of both Pentheus and Dionysus. I would say… no, it doesn’t, and you’ll get more mileage out of it if you don’t treat it as a tragedy.’

2 stars ★★

Alexander Cohen at BroadwayWorld was unimpressed: ‘Bacchae arrives trumpeting fist clenched rebellion, only to implode into hashtag politics. In remoulding crudly Euripides’ tragedy into tawdry cabaret, the National Theatre has committed the deadliest artistic sin of all: cringe.’ He explained: ‘Tragedy requires sharp focus. Satire requires wit. Taleghani and Rubasingham proffer neither. What remains is noisy brashness straining itself in its attempts to be something it isn’t.’

1 star ★

Having called it ‘a travesty’, The Times’ Clive Davis lamented: ‘Nima Taleghani’s update of The Bacchae, studded with ultra-crude, in-yer-face banter, is so leaden that it makes the average panto look like a treatise on existentialism.’ Hardy any aspect of the production seemed to please him: ‘you’re left with a comedic storyline that’s dull and often confusing. Rubasingham’s staging is oddly pedestrian, too, while the designer Robert Jones’s functional asymmetrical platforms fail to summon up much sense of the divine.’

Critics’ Average Rating 3.0★

Value rating 43 (Value rating is the Average Critic Rating divided by the typical ticket price.)

Bacchae can be seen at the National Theatre until 1 November 2025. Buy tickets direct from nationaltheatre.org

Click here to read Paul Seven Lewis’ review of Bacchae

If you’ve seen Bacchae at the National Theatre, please leave your rating and review below