A new era dawns at the National Theatre – and with it comes quite the statement of intent. Indhu Rubasingham, the recently appointed artistic director , is the first non-male, non-white incumbent of the office and her first production as director seems to want to underline these points in marked fashion.

This modern spin on the ancient Greek tragedy is diverse of casting, demotic of speech and decidedly female-slanted and while it pulses with a febrile energy, it unhelpfully turns its protagonists into something of a shouty rabble.

Euripides’s play is notable for the fact that its chorus is foregrounded in the very title, which signifies female celebrants of the hedonistic god Dionysus, or Bacchus. Debut playwright Nima Taleghani (known as an actor for his role as Mr Farouk in Hearts

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