How To See Greek Debauchery In Central Park

July 28, 2009 at 3:54 PM | by egw | Comments (0)

See Greek theatre the way the Greeks did: In an outside amphitheater that practically mandates carousing. Buy your wine onsite for New York's Public Theatre's production of "The Bacchae," and absorb some alcohol and culture outside why don't you?

"The Bacchae" is a classic Euripidean tragedy about the wine god Dionysius' anger at and revenge upon the king and queen of Thebes for refusing to worship him. The play, which opens August 11, stars Jonathan Groff—of last summer's "Hair" in the park and a Tony nominee for "Spring Awakening"—and features a new score by composer Philip Glass, so its intellectual cred is firmly intact.

The Public's second offering this summer follows a run of "Twelfth Night" that nearly got rained out more than it successfully completed shows, although the night we went, the crowd cheered the loudest at the line "For the rain it raineth every day."

Now for three ways to get tickets to the shows:

There are three ways to get tickets to "The Bacchae," and only one of them involves putting down cold hard cash:

· A Summer Supporter gets a reserved seat on the night of his or her choosing, but that'll cost you $170 (or almost twice ticket price for most of the Broadway shows currently running).

· The classic money-saver is to join the line outside Central Park's Delacorte Theatre before each day's performance; before the park opens at 6AM, it can be found at 81st and Central Park West, after which it's moved to the ticket office inside the park. Tickets aren't given out until 1PM, though, so bring reinforcements or at least a decent lawn chair to get you through.

· The Jaunted-endorsed method of getting tickets is the Virtual Line, first used last summer: Create an account, then log in after midnight on the day you want to see "The Bacchae" to enter yourself in the line. Log back in again at 1PM that day to find out if you got tickets. (This was how we really got our "Hair" tickets, no foolin'!) It will only get more popular as the show's run continues, though, so start with the August 11 show (you can enter once per night) and keep trying.

Related Stories:
· The Bacchae @Shakespeare in the Park [PublicTheater.org]
· Last Summer At The Public: Central Park "Hair" Is So '60s, So What? [Jaunted]
· LinkTitle2 [Source2]
· "The Best And The Brightest" Films In "Sex and the City" Territory Today [Jaunted]

[Photo: ctsiokos]

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