It would have been easy to update Euripides' Bacchae by drawing parallels with today's binge-drinking culture, perhaps casting Pentheus, the killjoy Theban king who refuses to acknowledge the divinity of Dionysos � and pays dearly for his arrogance by being torn to pieces by his own mother � as a Blunkett-like moral guardian.

But the Cornish company Kneehigh doesn't stoop to anything predictable or crass in its retelling of a story whose continuing relevance is all too apparent.   more »