CLAIRE PRENTICE

NEW YORK: They say if you can make it here you can make it anywhere: if so the National Theatre of Scotland now has the world at its feet.

Hot on the heels of the success of Black Watch last year, New York audiences gave a standing ovation to the National Theatre of Scotland's The Bacchae which opened here, in the Lincoln Centre's Rose Theatre on Wednesday night.

Alan Cumming reprised the role of the hedonistic Dionysus as part-god part-rock star, who makes his first appearance in the play upside down - flashing his bare bottom at the audience. They loved it and for the next two hours Cumming had them eating out of his hand.

Explosions of fire had the audience gasping, the songs had them bursting into spontaneous applause.

Aberfeldy-born Cumming is a well-known face in the US, where he has lived for the last decade ever since he came to New York to take the part of Emcee in Cabaret.

Since then his appearances in hit television shows such as Sex and the City and Frasier, as well as films including Goldeneye and X-Men 2, have introduced him to a wider audience.

The part of the sexually ambiguous Dionysus seems tailor-made for Cumming in this reimagining by director John Tiffany and writer David Greig of Euripides's classic tragedy as a cross between rock opera and contemporary theatre. The Bacchae, which received rave reviews when it premiered at last year's Edinburgh International Festival, marks the second triumphant outing for the NTS in New York following last year's staging of Black Watch - which presented the Iraq war through the eyes of the Scottish regiment.

Black Watch is enjoying a critically acclaimed run at the Barbican in London. It is due to return to New York by popular demand in October for a seven-week stint at St Ann's Warehouse.

The love affair between the US and the NTS looks set to continue. Wednesday night's audience at The Bacchae clapped and cheered not just the actors but also Miriam Buether's design, which sees flowers seemingly drop from the Heavens and the entire stage combust in flames.

As the curtain fell, the noise in the auditorium was deafening. "Gosh, that was just incredible. I haven't seen anything like it for a very long time," said John Alexander, a businessman from Manhattan.

Louise Sylvester had seen Black Watch and had high hopes for the NTS and Alan Cumming. "This was a different play entirely but it had me gripped. I loved how contemporary they'd made it."

Village Voice arts and culture editor Brian Parks, who attended the opening night, said: "It was a popular crowd pleaser, though it did sacrifice some of the darkness. Alan Cumming is always popular around here so I'm sure they'll have a great time."