Fragment from The Bacchae, written by Ewan Downie
A retelling of the original by Euripides
when semele came to her
in the early morning
agave knew what to do
semele
who could do no wrong
pretty semele
it was still dark
agave was lying in bed
feeding her baby son
semele slipped into the room
and lay beside agave
her breath in shuddering gulps
trying not to cry
she told agave everything
she’d met a man
who said he was a god
she was in love
now she was three weeks late
agave told semele
what she had to do
you have to make him swear
to show you his true form
if he is a god you have to know
and when the explosion
ripped apart the fields behind the house
and burned the yellow flowers black
and charred and cracked and split the ancient oak
and smashed the windows of the house
and shook agave’s room and woke the baby
so his mouth opened in a scream she knew
that semele was dead
and eight months later
when her sister’s lover
came to her with the baby
and said
agave please
I don’t know what to do
will you look after it?
she said
yes
Company of Wolves’ production of The Bacchae premiered at The Barn in Banchory on 22 September 2023 and will be performed again Friday, 6 October 2023 at Byre Theatre in St. Andrews. For information and tickets visit us here
For information about National Poetry Day, visit their website
Photo by Louise Mather