The Bacchae -- A triumph for the Charles Playhouse and all concerned. Director Timothy S. Mayer has updated Euripides' play in translation and costumes, invested it with modern music, and staged it almost vertically. The devices are amazingly consistent with one another, also with the interpretation, and most of all with the play. The cast is fine. At the CHARLES, 76 Warrenton (542-3325).

Brecht on Brecht--A revue of sorts built around the plays, songs and other writings of The Man. At the THEATRE COMPANY OF BOSTON, 136 Mass. Ave. (426-6609).

The Children's Hour--Lillian Hellman tells a strange story. At the BU THEATRE, Comm. Ave. (353-3392).

Dear World--reviewed on page 2. At the COLONIAL (HA 6-9366).

Detective Story--Sidney Kingsley. At the NORTHEASTERN UNIV. ALUMNI AUDITORIUM (437-2192).

H.M.S. Pinafore--Julian Beck has been replaced by Gilbert and Sullivan. There is something in that. At KRESGE AUDITORIUM, M.I.T. (864-6900, ext. 2910).

The Imaginary Invalid -- Moliere. At Dunster House.

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying--Frank Loesser and Abe Burrows musical on big business. At AGASSIZ, Radcliffe Yard (354-9175).

The Measures Taken -- Brecht. At the HARVARD EPWORTH CHURCH, 1555 Mass. Ave. (491-9579).

Oh, What a Lovely War -- In which World War I turns out not to be so lovely after all. At TUFTS ARENA THEATRE (628-5000, ext. 318).

The Proposition--Local satirical revue. At 241 Hampshire St., Inman Square, Cambridge.

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown -- Which somehow works. At the WILBUR (426-9366).

The Zoo Story & Krapp's Last Tape--Albee, Beckett, three actors and a tape recorder. At the ATMA 496 Tremont (338-9791).

SCREEN

Angels from Hell--Adults only. At the CENTER, 686 Washington St. (426-0889).

The Bank Dick--He's W. C. Fields. At the SYMPHONY I, 262 Huntington (262-8820).

Barbarella--Roger Vadim's very public salute to Jane Fonda; more or less what you'd expect. At the CIRCLE, Cleveland Circle, Brookline (566-4040).

Belle de Jour -- Luis Bunuel in high gear, with Catherine Deneuve. At the WEST END North Station (523-4050).

The Big Gundown--Mr. Ugly hits town. At the PARAMOUNT, Washington St. across from Raymond's (482-4820).

The Big Sleep--Hawks, Bacall and Bogart, Sunday at the CARPENTER CENTER.

Born Wild--Remember little Patty McCormack? At the CENTER, 686 Washington St. (426-0889).

The Boston Strangler--Believe your worst suspicions. At the MUSIC HALL, Tremont St. near Stuart (423-3300).

Camelot--An overblown adaptation of the Lerner & Lowe musical, with Richard Harris and Vanessa Redgrave. But swell music. At the FRESH POND in Fresh Pond, Cambridge (547-8800).

The Caretaker--Pinter, Losey and Donald Pleasance. Through Saturday at the BRATTLE (876-4226).

The Charge of the Light Brigade -- A movie which argues that mid-Victorian England was a pretty inhuman place, revealing that quality most clearly in its incredibly stupid wars. Not as exciting as the book (Cecil Woodham-Smith's The Reason Why), but for those who like their wars with lots of gory realism and facile satire, may make enjoyable viewing. At the CHERI 3, Dalton St. in Prudential Center (536-2870).

Darling -- Julie Christie in black and white. At the HARVARD SQUARE (864-4580).

Finlan's Rainbow -- A heavyhanded, poorly acted film version of the musical, with nothing but the splendid score and the magnificent Fred Astaire to recommend it. The director, Francis Fred Coppola, has a bad habit of chopping people's hands and feet off; stars Petula Clark and Tommy Steele ought to act their age. At the SAXON, Tremont and Stuart (542-4600).

The Firemen's Ball--Looks like another good Czech film. Opens Saturday at the EXETER, Exeter St., between Commonwealth and Newbury (536-7067).

Funny Girl--If you like Barbra Streisand, there is no getting around the fact that this movie works. The score, the screenplay, and even Omar Sharif are fine. The photography, on the other hand, is unfortunate, as is the editing. At the CHERI 2, Dalton St. in Prudential Center (536-2870).

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter -- Very weighty stuff, with the sensitive Alan Arkin as a sensitive deaf mute. At the ASTOR, Tremont St. near Boylston (542-5030).

If He Hollers, Let Him Go--Let it go. At the SYMPHONY I, 262 Huntington (262-8820).

I Love You, Alice B. Toklas--A cheap celluloid account of the swinging sixties, atrociously filmed, with Peter Sellers as a representative youth. At the BEACON HILL, Tremont between Beacon St. & Govt. Center (227-6676).

In the Heat of the Night--Rod Steiger as a Deep South cop and Sidney Poitier as Sidney Poitier. At SYMPHONY I, 262 Huntington (262-8820).

The Lion in Winter--Pretension unleashed, most notably that of Anthony Harvey, the director, who seems bent on doing everything as conspicuously as he can. Neither Peter O'Toole nor Katharine Hepburn gives much of a performance in this cumbersomely filmed version of James Goldman's play, which was unconvincing to start with. At the PARIS CINEMA, 841 Boylston (267-8181).

The Magician--Bergman. Starts Sunday at the BRATTLE (876-4226).

Negatives--Glenda Jackson (Charlotte Corday in the Peter Brook Marat-Sade) is in it. At the CHARLES, 195 Cambridge (227-2832).

Never Give a Sucker an Even Break--One of W. C. Fields' best, with Margaret Dumont and a wild movie-within-the-movie. At SYMPHONY II, 262 Huntington (262-8820).

Our Man in Havana -- Alee Guinness and Noel Coward in Graham Greene's screenplay. 2 DIVINITY AVE., tonight.

The Parent Trap--Hayley Mills plays two characters in this Walt Disney film. Too much of a bad thing. At the ORPHEUM, Washington St. across from Filene's (542-5557).

The Producers--Mel Brooks shows how to make a musical about "the Hitler you knew, the Hitler you loved, the Hilter with a song in his heart." At the HARVARD SQUARE (864-4580).

Romeo and Juliet--The Shakespeare play, dressed up for the color screen by Franco Zefirelli, with teenage stars. At the ABBEY, 600 Commonwealth Ave. (262-1303).

The Silence--More Bergman. At the CHARLES ST. MEETING HOUSE, 70 Charles St., tonight.

Star--Despite wonderful music, ranging from Kurt Weill to Cole Porter, an aimless, fruitless movie. The theatrical history, however, is fun, and Julie Andrews and Daniel Massey are likewise as Gertrude Lawrence and Noel Coward. At the GARY, 131 Stuart (542-7040).

The Two of Us--A dog and a little boy loom large in this French-made tale of human understanding, but any cute moments are salvaged by the formidable Michel Simon. At the EXETER, Exeter St. between Sommonwealth & Newbury (536-7067).

2001 --Stanley Kubrick's epic of human advancement, externally motivated. The special effects must be seen, and can best be seen from the first five rows. At the CINERAMA, Washington Street near Essex (482-4515).

West Side Story--Much, much worse than the show. Badly dubbed and drippily sung, but funny in places. At the SAVOY, 163 Tremont (536-2120).

You Are What You Eat--Tiny Tim and friends romp through a small budget. At the ESQUIRE, Mass. Ave. on the Boston side of Harvard Square (491-7730), and the KENMORE, Kenmore Square (262-3799).

You Can't Cheat an Honest Man --Among the funnier Fields pictures, this one offers him as a circus impressario with a desirable daughter and debts. The Lake Titicaca episode and the pingpong game are pure genius. At the SYMPHONY II, 262 Huntington (272-8837)