DANAE

“Let Time pinch your cheeks into white beaches,

Let him bask in your light, sun-baked, sea-pruned,

Let the wind craft here crags and dips and dunes,

Where Memory may lay among sea grass,

Cool and sighing, and whisper recollection

Into your well-tread thoughts. Oh, my daughter,

How I wish I could be by your side then.”

A piece in verse inspired by the Greek myth of Danae, princess of Argos, and the Lyric Poets of Greece by Antipater of Thesalonike. Upon hearing the Oracle’s prophecy that he is to be murdered by his grandson’s hand, King Akrisios locks his daughter in a bronze tower in the middle of the sea. In her imprisonment, she falls pregnant by Zeus disguised as the golden sun. The cast of nine women act as a Chorus, aiding Danae as she faces another day of Zeus’ sunlight. How does one face another day when day itself is your keeper?

Workshop Reading 2024

Cast: Caitlyn Calfas, Jazz Jenkins, Zoe Watson, Kylie Rae Brady, Claire Adams, Bonnie Langthorn, Frances Graham, Aishwarya Gaikwad, Caroline Letelier