Dionysus in 69 (digitally re-rendered).

'Dionysus in 69' is the first performance of The Performance Group that emerged in 1968 from a workshop led by Richard Schechner in November 1967 shortly after he arrived from Tulane University to teach at NYU. 'D69' was the first environmental theater production shown at the Performing Garage, the long-time home of TPG and later, the Wooster Group that emerged in 1980 from TPG. A free-wheeling adaptation and distortion of Euripides' 'The Bacchae', 'D69' is notable for the combination of a number of 'firsts' for the New York theater, including audience participation, man-to-man kissing, and full-frontal nudity of both women and men. The Performing Garage was filled with platforms and towers, the floor covered with carpets. There were no seats which meant that performers and spectators shared the space, sitting on the floor or perched on scaffolds. 'D69' was created during a long period of workshops and rehearsals. The production - like all of Schechner's work that followed - was never finished. Before each performance, Schechner gave extensive notes and made many revisions. Over the 14-month run, the roles were rotated among the cast, including a woman playing the god Dionysus (Joan MacIntosh). The Performance Group used their performances as a means of confronting the psychic, physical, social, and political work of the performer and the spectator. The film was made by De Palma and his colleagues from footage shot during two in June and July, 1968. The film uses two screen images shown simultaneously to give some feel of the totally inclusive environmental theater technique pioneered by Schechner. Richard Schechner is a theater director, performance theorist and university professor known for being one of the founders of the academic discipline of Performance Studies at Tisch School of the Arts, New York University. Schechner combines his work in anthropology with innovative approaches to performance of all kinds including ritual, drama, environmental theater, political rallies, dance, music, etc. in order to consider how performance can be understood not just as an object of study, but also as an active intellectual-artistic practice. He is the editor of 'TDR: The Journal of Performance Studies.' His books include 'Environmental Theater, ' 'The Future of Ritual, ' 'Performance Theory, ' 'Between Theater and Anthropology' and 'Performance Studies: An Introduction.' As of 2007, his books have been translated into 14 languages. Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics