Bacchae Bacchae Move: The Warwick Classics Play
Something that I decided to get involved in this year was the Warwick Classics Play. Upon reflection, this may well have been one of the best decisions I made this year. I had such an incredible time as a member of the cast, and I cannot recommend the experience enough to anyone even slightly considering
WHAT IS THE WARWICK CLASSICS PLAY?
The Warwick Classics Play is an annual event ran, by both the Classics department, and the Classics society. You don’t have to study Classics to be in the play though- there are usually plenty of people in the cast who don’t. We perform an ancient Greek play, as selected by the department, the producer and director. This year, we did Euripides’ play, The Bacchae, directed by Jess Johnson and produced by Kat Broderick.
What made this year so special, was how long people had been waiting to perform this show. Unfortunately due to Covid 19 the play was cancelled last year, meaning that this show had been in planning for two years, so it was incredible to finally be able to put it on stage. Even after waiting, we still had to be careful because of COVID. All of us involved were testing regularly, and following university guidance. In the final few weeks, we were all testing before every rehearsal, just to make extra sure we were all ok, because nothing was stopping us this time.
GETTING SHOW READY
Auditions were held in the first weeks of term, and rehearsals began week 3 of term 1. This may seem early, however the show itself was in week 3 of term 2. Once you take out the break for the Christmas holidays, this means we only had a maximum of 10 weeks together to rehearse, so we got straight on with it. But, rehearsals weren’t just work all the time. They were also a great chance to get to know people in different years, from different courses who you might not interact with normally, as well as offering the chance to spend time with friends working on something together that wasn’t module related.
One of many special things about the Warwick Classics play is that it is literally tailored to us. The production team take their time picking the translation they feel is best, then select passages to be converted into songs, which are created just for our show. As one of the bacchants, a large chorus-like group, I was involved in many of these songs, which were used to convey large chorus segments to the audience. So, we spent a lot of time together with Kirk Hastings, the composer, learning all the songs, then with Tallulah George to learn her amazing choreography.
SHOWTIME!!!!
As someone who shamelessly loves performing, I was so excited to be moving to the Warwick Arts Centre for our show. The final rehearsals before get-in day, and the days in the theatre may have been long, but the cast all supported each other through. The atmosphere backstage was incredible, with such a great energy from cast and production team. Adding in people doing lighting, sound, props, hair and make up only boosted the excitement, and before we knew it, it was showtime.
What could be better than doing a show with your amazing friends, in a supportive and productive atmosphere?
Even as I’m writing this now, a week on from the show, I’m still having random memories from the whole experience come back to me. The games of splat, the press up challenges, the mic checks, or the pizza. There aren’t enough words to summarise how great this experience was. But trust me, if you’re even thinking about maybe doing the play? I’m here to tell you to just say yes
