The National Theatre has released the first rehearsal images for its nationwide schools tour of Bacchae, Nima Taleghani's reworking of his own Olivier production for an audience that will watch it in a school hall.
Rehearsal photographs for the National Theatre's nationwide schools tour of Bacchae were released this morning, a few days before the production sets off on an eight-week run through school halls in England. Working with partner theatres in ten places, the company expects to play to 7,000 young people from more than 60 schools and colleges.
Nima Taleghani's Bacchae had its debut at the National Theatre as part of Indhu Rubasingham's inaugural season. For the tour the writer has adapted that 2025 main-stage play into a new version made specifically for schools, directed by Hannah Hauer-King, with Euripides' tragedy carried by rhythm, movement and music.
"When I first started writing Bacchae, I wanted to make something that me and my friends from school would have enjoyed then and would enjoy now. Something that we would find challenging and tough and tricky then and that we would find challenging now, but in a totally different way. I never felt theatre needed to differentiate so heavily between work for young people and adults, low brow and high brow, accessible and elite. I always wanted to make something for community, that reflected reality, something grassroots and authentic: Bacchae Schools Tour is the play finally coming HOME", said Taleghani.
The touring company is Senam Akpokavi, Jessica Alade, Ross Foley, Daniel Forbes, Aminita Francis, Emma Manton, Lily Olufemi-Bywaters, Daniel Regan, Premi Tamang and Benjamin Wilson. The rehearsal images, taken by Marc Brenner, show them working in trainers and tracksuits on a set of gauze drapes and scaffolding light enough to travel.
"Bacchae is a piece that encourages audiences to be suspicious of polarities, to embrace those that may appear different to us, and to question those who impose power. Nima Taleghani's brilliant adaptation shines a contemporary light on these themes, giving particular focus to the desire of everyone, even a God, to feel like they belong. It feels like the perfect show to take into schools - not only speaking to issues that impact young people today, but also through a classic text that may otherwise seem inaccessible or 'not for them'. I can't wait to see it reach an audience that otherwise may not have access to the National Theatre, and that will hopefully encourage young people to believe that they have a future watching or making theatre, should they want it", said Hauer-King.
The visit is not only a performance. Pupils also take part in workshops on stage design and theatre-making, and alumni of the National Theatre's Introduction to Stage Management and Young Technicians programmes join the tour on placements, using the technical training those schemes gave them on a working show.
Alongside Hauer-King, the artistic team is set and costume designer Natalie Johnson, lighting designer Bethany Gupwell, sound designer and composer Annie May Fletcher, movement director Kendra Horsburgh, dramaturg Jeanie O'Hare, associate director Callum Berridge and fight director Claire Llewellyn for Rc Annie Ltd, with casting by Martin Poile CDG.
The tour is booked into schools and colleges rather than theatres, with a partner theatre hosting in each area:
- 28 September - 2 October: Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury
- 5-9 October: Norwich Theatre
- 12-14 October: Birmingham Hippodrome
- 15-16, 19-21 October: Wolverhampton Grand Theatre
- 22-23 October: Belgrade Theatre, Coventry
- 2-6 November: Newcastle Theatre Royal
- 9-11 November: Theatre Royal, Nottingham
- 12-13 November: Leicester Curve
- 16-21 November: Lowry, Salford
- 23-27 November: Sheffield Theatres
Almost all of those performances are for the host schools, so there is nothing for the general public to book. The exception is Salford, where the Lowry is giving the production two public performances on 20-21 November.
