about

The Dionysium offers a unique, innovative program of debate, lecture, declamation, theatrical presentation and music in a salon-like atmosphere. Audiences enjoy offerings not to be found elsewhere in Austin, including the recitation of famous speeches, participatory discussion in a formal, moderated context, and the opportunity to participate in the recreation of Ancient rituals.

Before we called the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar our home, the Dionysium had the patio of the Caucus Club as its venue in September of 2004. The debate's resolution, "That Nasa should not be privatized," was defeated.

A typical Dionysium show will feature a lecture, a declamation, a drinking song, a film or live musical performance, an appeal to Dionysus, a fiction-writing contest, and plenty of strong drink. But the heart of every Dionysium is the debate.

The Dionysium debate pits two experts against each other in toe-to-toe parliamentary combat. Dionysium debate resolutions have covered everything from Social Security reform to the future threat of genocidal robots. An audience interrogatory segment allows guests to personally challenge our debaters, and every resolution is adopted, or defeated, by an audience vote.

The original Dionysia were yearly festivals in Classical Athens. They superficially resembled modern theater festivals, but Dionysia were not mere entertainment. They were religious and political events at the very heart of Athenian life and culture. Like the Olympics, they were competitions in a sacred context; dramatists strove for coveted honors, politicians wielded the medium as a means to influence, and libations were poured to Dionysus' honor.

L.B. Deyo and Buzz Moran toast Dionysus.

The word Dionysium is seldom heard today, and the festivals are little thought of. But much of the heart of Western Civilization was formed in the Dionysian crucible. The great Classical tragedies and comedies were first performed there. Our seminal philosophies and political ideas were first debated in its galleries.