The Maenads

A new play by Stephen Foglia

Five modern men climb a mountain to role-play as Dionysus-worshipping women and break free of the prison of masculinity.

Stewart, an emotionally hidden academic, leads friends and family through the paces of a modern-day Bacchanal, complete with choral chants, invocations, and mock dismemberments. At first, nothing but the wine seems to be having much effect, but when a gender-bending role-play pushes the men to absurd lengths, they soon discover they have no idea how to get off the mountain. Desperate to survive but equally desperate not to leave the mountain unchanged, they are forced to confront the lies and fears that drove them to this performance of ecstatic femininity in the first place.

“Drunk and wild, our revelry ran all night, and we couldn’t find our way off the mountain.”

— Stewart, The Maenads

Performance History

Pete’s Candy Store, 2023 (Reading)

Part of the Play Date at Pete’s performance series, this was the first public reading of The Maenads, directed by Phillip Christian Smith and starring Fang Du as Stewart, Charles Manning as Jacob, Ales Stene as Max, DJ Davis as Devon, and Chad Kaydo as Phil.

Theater for the New City, 2024 (Reading)

Part of the Dream Up Festival, this special engagement reading welcomed Kirk White to the role of Phil.

COMING SOON: The Tank, 2025 (Full Production)

Running for 16 performances in October 2025 as part of The Tank’s Core Production Series, this will be the first fully staged, fully realized production of The Maenads. Exact dates and cast and crew announcements COMING SOON!