Staging ‘Bacchae’ thrills student director

A chance to work with rare international talent came Jeremy Kamps’ way this semester.

Leah Elce Roy as Agave in ‘The Bacchae’ Details “The Bacchae” will open Friday, March 19, and continue its run March 20, 21, 24-28 at 7:30 p.m. in Mitchell Theatre. Tickets: $11 general, $8 UW–Madison students, available through the Vilas Hall Box Office, 262-1500. The artists will talk about their work in a free public lecture Sunday, Feb. 28, at 3 p.m. in Vilas Hall’s Mitchell Theatre.

Kamps, a senior majoring in English who is assistant director of the University Theatre‘s production of “The Bacchae,” is collaborating with two Nigerian theatrical stars-in-residence in the Department of Theatre and Drama.

Playwright Femi Osofian and dance theater specialists Omofolabo Ajayi-Soyinka currently are in residence here to direct and choreograph, respectively, “The Bacchae.” The work interprets Euripedes’ classic from an African perspective; its playwright is Ajayi-Soyinka’s Nobel Prize-winning brother Wole Soyinka.

“When I heard they were coming for this project, I wanted to be part of it in any capacity possible,” Kamps says. “This is the most unique project the UT has undertaken in my five years as a student here.”

And why is that?

“It fuses significant elements from many areas — dance, classical Greek theater, Yoruba and other West African traditions and music. Events like this bridge and strengthen departments,” he says.

Kamps adds that collaborating with the visitors is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. “Femi and Folabo have had a huge impact on their country, literature and the arts,” he says.

Osofian, for example, is a multiple winner of the Association of Nigerian Authors annual drama prize. The author of many works of fiction, poetry, drama and literary criticism, Osofian was affiliated with Wole Soyinka’s Orisun Theatre in Ibaden. Osofian eventually formed his own troupe, Kakaun Sela Company. He is a professor of drama at the University of Ibaden.

Ajayi-Soyinka has choreographed, directed and acted extensively in the United states and Nigeria. She currently is an associate professor of theatre and film, and women’s studies at the University of Kansas.

The artists will talk about their work in a free public lecture Sunday, Feb. 28, at 3 p.m. in Vilas Hall’s Mitchell Theatre.

“The Bacchae” will open Friday, March 19, and continue its run March 20, 21, 24-28 at 7:30 p.m. in Mitchell Theatre. Tickets: $11 general, $8 UW–Madison students, available through the Vilas Hall Box Office, 262-1500.