The Dionysus Group

The Dionysus Group is a story from tumultuous times in American history (1967-1970) told through the eyes of a young actor in New York's Off-Off Broadway production of Dionysus in 69 by The Performance Group, directed by Richard Schechner. William Shephard, a founding member of the Group, played a leading role as "Pentheus," the young King of Thebes, in the Group's adaptation of Euripides', The Bacchae, and he chronicles the extraordinary formation, development, and realization of the Group's ethos in Dionysus in 69. Shephard describes the formation of a Group Mind in which the interpersonal forces within the Group became mirrored in the production; where the casting and performance of roles in Dionysus in 69 reflected conflicts within the Group, itself, and conflicts in American society at large. Themes of passion, intoxication, violence, and bloodshed in Dionysus in 69, were indicative of the times, and The Performance Group's unique use of "audience participation" captured the attention of American and International theater audiences in startling ways.
About the Author: William Shephard is a professional actor, director, playwright, and performance artist with a broad range of professional experience from New York's Off-Off Broadway theatre to regional theatre and films. He has performed at both the Ashland, Oregon, and New York Shakespeare Festivals, and he was a founding member of New York's Performance Group, directed by Richard Schechner. He subsequently received a Fulbright grant to study with Jerzy Grotowski and the Polish Laboratory Theatre in Wroclaw, Poland. In addition to a number of smaller independent films, he has appeared in major motion pictures such as Phantom of the Paradise, Deathrace 2000, and King Kong (1976. He was Artistic Director for the Palouse Performance Project (1996-98) and wrote, produced, directed, and performed in the Project's multimedia performance, The Woman Who Turned To Soap, featured in the 1997 Seattle Fringe Festival. Shephard also wrote, produced, directed, and has performed his one man show about American author Jack London, The True Story of Jack London, in Los Angeles, New York, Anchorage, AK, Orlando, FL, and Carmel, CA to critical acclaim (1975-2004). William Shephard is also an educator with over thirty-five years' experience teaching acting, directing and playwriting at the university level, receiving his PhD. in Theatre from The Florida State University School of Theatre. In 1998-99 he received a Senior Lecturer Fulbright grant to teach and direct in India He has also taught acting workshops in China, Malaysia, Singapore, Belarus, Turkey, and Israel.