By Andrew Rissik.
Paul Scofield and Diana Rigg star in a new play examining the clash between an authoritarian young king and the leader of a charismatic religion which, by its belief in a God of boundless power who makes no distinction between rich or poor, male or female, slave or free, threatens to destabilise the state.

6.30pm R3 This new version of The Bacchae re-works Euripides's play about the Greek god of wine and ecstasy into a drama of ideas. Here, the return of Zeus's son Dionysos to Thebes represents a pivotal shift to a belief in a single god who dwells in every human heart. But for King Pentheus, it's a subversive threat to the authority of the state that he seems powerless to combat. With an outstanding cast, Andrew Rissik's play moves smoothly between the realm of myth and the world of men to give the ancient drama a fresh resonance. (Geoff Ellis)