Ancient Greek Tragedy With Punk Rock Twist Comes To East Village

EAST VILLAGE, NY — An ancient Greek tragedy with a punk rock twist is coming to the East Village on Thursday.

"Between Gods and Kings: A New Rock Show," based on the classic Greek tragedy "The Bacchae," features an original rock score — recreating the ancient epic by Euripides about the battle between the god of wine Dionysus, played by Jacob Shipley, and King Pentheus, played by Jimmy Schumacher.

Amid the battle between the two men, the king's mother Agave, played by Sheri Sanders, and the people in the ancient city of Thebes are caught in the middle. The writers' adaptation unveil how much of the chaos that ensues could've been avoided had the men fighting for power actually listened to the women throughout the epic — echoing today's political mood.

The rock show's stage is non-traditional. Actors and a live rock band will take over "every inch" of BEDLAM, a bar on Avenue C.

As Maggie Herskowitz, a writer on the show, puts it: "It is a rock show that tells a story — and a story that is thousands of years old, but in the form of 'let's party in the East Village.'"

A live rock band with an original score of music, led by James Dobinson, who was the musical supervisor for The View UpStairs, will help tell the story.

"It doesn't sound like musical theatre trying to be rock," Herskowitz added.

The goal for the team behind "Between Gods and Kings" is to reignite guerilla theater in the East Village — drawing on decades of theatre history at La MaMa and Caffe Cino, havens for off-off-broadway and LGBTQ theatre communities in the East Village.

The team behind the show will perform in the bar BEDLAM on Avenue C, owned by the same team behind Club Cumming on East Sixth St.

The spot is perfect for "Between Gods and Kings," says the show's writers, since the bars' namesake, bedlam, means chaos — representative of the show itself.

"[I]f you are used to going on a bar on Avenue C, you'll feel comfortable at 'Between Gods and Kings,'" said Neil Douglas Reilly, who wrote the rock score for the show. "There's no demarkation between where the play happens and where's the bar. It's one place."

Actors pass around hand-held mics and carry flashlights in holsters, and their rehearsals so far have transformed into jam sessions, Reilly and Herskowitz said.

"It feels like the whole cast is working together to make the lighting happen, to make the sound design happen — which again, is non-traditional," said Herskowitz.

The scrappy, shoe-string budget show is presented under the actors' union, Actors' Equity Association, what Reilly called a rarity among off-off-broadway shows like this.

The show previews at BEDLAM, located at 40 Avenue C, on Thursday at 10 p.m. Weekly Thursday night shows run through April 11. Tickets start at $25.