[1] Soyinka adds a second chorus to the play, the slaves, to mirror the civil unrest in Nigeria.
Instead of Thebes dissolving into chaos, Pentheus's head begins to spurt blood, that transforms into wine.
In Soyinka's introduction, he says, “By drinking the king’s blood, the community as a whole partakes of his power and all are revitalized and unified.”[1] This is what makes the play fulfil its subtitle of A Communion Rite.
Soyinka's production note called for "as [racially] mixed a cast as is possible" for the Slaves and the Bacchantes, and a "fully negroid" actor for the Slave Leader, but in the National Theatre's production all the other named characters were played by white actors.
Whereas in Euripides' play Pentheus is a young man (cousin, and potential mirror image of Dionysus), in this production John Shrapnel seemed old enough to be a father figure, and thereby a generational difference was introduced.