ABOUT THE PLAY

Five modern-day men climb a mountain to role-play as Dionysus-worshipping women and break free of the prison of masculinity.

When Stewart, an emotionally hidden academic, puts his divorced uncle, a sensitive colleague, that colleagueʼs fratty friend, and a strange pickleball partner through the paces of choral chant, invocations, and mock dismemberments, at first nothing but the wine seems to have much effect.

But when a role-play pushes the men to absurd lengths, they soon discover they have no idea how to get off the mountain.

Desperate to survive but equally desperate not to leave the mountain unchanged, they are forced to confront the lies and fears that drove them to this performance of ecstatic femininity in the first place.

“Drunk and wild, our revelry ran all night, and we couldn’t find our way off the mountain.”

— Stewart, The Maenads

BACKGROUND

In Greek mythology, maenads were the female followers of Dionysus and the most significant members of his retinue. Their name literally translates as 'raving ones'.

Often, the maenads were portrayed as inspired by Dionysus into a state of ecstatic frenzy through a combination of dancing and intoxication. Some tales recount their getting lost on mountains after drunken revels.

The most famous story of the maenads is The Bacchae by Euripides, in which the worshippers of Dionysus tear King Pentheus apart when he is caught spying on them after forbidding the worship of their god.

“Meliou, tell us a story. Tell us about the maenads.”

— Jacob, The Maenads

Production History

  • Pete's Candy Store, Fall 2023

    Part of the Play Date at Pete’s performance series, this was the first public reading of The Maenads, directed by Phillip Christian Smith and starring Fang Du as Stewart, Charles Manning as Jacob, Alex Stene as Max, DJ Davis as Devon, and Chad Kaydo as Phil.

  • Theater for the New City, Fall 2024

    Part of the Dream Up Festival, this special engagement reading welcomed Kirk White to the role of Phil.

  • COMING SOON: The Tank, September 18 - October 12, 2025

    Running for 16 performances as part of The Tank’s Core Production Series, this will be the first fully staged, fully realized production of The Maenads. Ticket link and cast and crew announcements COMING SOON!

Photo Credits: Jonathan Forage on Unsplash; A Bacchanalian Revel Before a Term by Nicolas Poussin, Collection of the National Gallery (UK); Tijs van Leur on Unsplash