A star comes home

So much has been made of the fact Alan Cumming has returned to Scottish theatre to play Dionysus that this bold, brash music-powered production by John Tiffany (adapted by David Greig) often feels as though it's deliberately commenting on Cumming's star status - his Dionysus is the ultimate celebrity.

This emphasis on spectacle certainly complements the notion of Dionsyus as theatrical metaphor. Yet the razzle dazzle chorus presents a problematic superficiality, while Cumming himself never embodies the might and intensity of vengeful, terrible god Dionysus.

Coupled with Greig's jokey, crude translation, this hollowness threatens to destabilise a production seemingly more concerned with style than content.

Yet Tiffany brings it right back with the extraordinary confrontation between Paola Dionisotti's wretched Agave and her father Cadmus, as she cradles the head of the son she tore limb from limb. Dionisotti is so good, I could have watched that scene a thousand times.

The rest, I'm not so sure.

Until 18 Aug, King's Theatre, 8pm, Wed and Sat mats 2.30pm, £8 to £30 (returns only).

The Bacchae
King's Theatre, Edinburgh Fringe