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On Writing "Letter From Helen"

9/17/2014

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Picture
by Persephone Vandegrift

The iconic Helen of Troy, a woman blessed with such beauty that mercilessly started a war and drove grown men to the ends of the earth in order to possess it.

Why did I choose Helen?

Years ago while researching women in classical mythology, I happened to take a look at all the Helen entries. It filled two pages. Each entry attributed Helen as the cause for something or other. Helen did this, Helen did that. Helen made men go into some kind of Bacchic frenzy that caused them to pursue her everywhere in order to possess her. She was so pretty that a war was waged over her. All because she was ‘beautiful’. And each entry seemed to be dead set on one-upping the other. So much blame put on one woman.

In those legends of Helen, they never saw her as anything other than a commodity. They never looked past her surface to her heart.

Needless to say, it really, really irked me. The idea of ‘beauty’ is still a mantle forced upon society today. Both men and women obsessed with being ‘so beautiful’ in order to illicit a chorus of astonished gasps when they step outside their door. I understand the need to feel confident about one’s appearance, but the monetary, physical, and emotional backlash it has on our bodies and minds is disheartening.

‘Beauty’ is still used an excuse to commit sexual attacks. The way we ‘look’ is used as ammunition. Some get bullied for being beautiful, and others get bullied for not being the ideal representation of beauty. Yes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, many say. Beauty comes from within, others insist. But we know the media feels the need to tell us what we should and shouldn’t find beautiful. And sadly millions listen. That’s just the way it is, many say.  Because we let it. We enjoy it. We can’t help ourselves.

However, ‘beautiful’ people are punished for being ‘beautiful’. And for what reason? Do we not punish each other and ourselves enough? What is with all the beautiful shaming and blaming?

I continually hear people wish they were prettier, skinnier, fitter, and richer – where does it end? Consider the cost of those wishes and what we put ourselves through in order to achieve it or something close to it. Are we not enough for each other or ourselves?  When will we be?

As I churned these thoughts over and over, the need to give Helen a chance to contest her ill-fated, ill-fitting legend was clear. But so was my need to make it a universal approach. Helen never had her moment. She was oppressed, hounded, blamed, cursed, and hated. And seeing how ‘beauty’ is still oppressed, hounded, blamed and cursed today I believed it fitting that Helen be the one to speak out about it in order to take back her power and her legend, and hopefully empower others to do the same.
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Persephone Vandegrift is the playwright of Letter From Helen, a part of MythFest, which debuts as a part of Seattle Fringe Fest 2014. 



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The Photographer

8/1/2014

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Picture
by Carolynne Wilcox

I just HAD to toot the horn of our photographer, Stephanie Mallard Couch. I just HAD to. I met her while we were both actors in a reverse-gender production of Hamlet at Ghost Light Theatricals - she was playing Polonius; I played the Ghost. She was not the "official" photographer for the production, but brought her fancy camera in a couple times anyway and got a lot of "just for fun" shots. I loved her work. 

A couple months later, while working on PR for eSe Teatro, we were looking to get a few shots of our staged reading of Don Quixote & Sancho Panza: Homeless in Seattle, but also both publicity and production photos of eSe Oro: Classics from the Golden Age of Spain. I immediately thought of Stephanie, and once again, she delivered. Not only that, but she had lots of fun doing it!

So of course, when we embarked upon getting publicity shots in February for MythFest, Stephanie was the first name that came to mind. She does great work, gets the photos back very quickly, and is really fun to work with during the photo shoot - she's great at incorporating both the ideas we put forward, as well as coming up with many of her own! And the results, of course, are stunning.  Just see for yourself in the gallery below of our most recent shoot! And if you are looking for someone to photograph a show or an event, or even if you need new head shots (she did mine!) - please contact her through her website, SMC Photography, HERE.

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Introducing Abi Grace

7/31/2014

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Picture
by Carolynne Wilcox

Back before in February of this year, before MythFest graced The Pocket's roving stages, my cohorts participated in something of a preview/showcase event of upcoming attractions, where they showed a brief glimpse into the world of MythFest. I was in Mexico on the beach (which was just HORRIBLE and filled with suffering as I'm sure you can imagine).

Also part of this showcase was a singer/songwriter who sang of myth and tale. They all met her, listened to her stuff and thought she was amazing. We considered asking her to be part of our show at the time, but felt it was just too short notice.

Several months later, embarking upon our remounts, we thought it was a perfect time to see if she'd be interested and/or available to join us for our Fringe Fest shows, and maybe the remount at The Pocket...and she said YES!

So without further adieu, I present Abi Grace, singer-songwriter-storyteller extraordinaire! She's been performing since the age of 16, and currently, her music "intertwines elements of mythology and magic in attempt to explore the complicated and exhilarating experience of being human."  Sounds like a perfect fit for MythFest!

We are beside ourselves with enthusiasm to welcome her to our little group of goddesses, and hope you'll come listen to her beautiful and haunting melodies as a part of the show in September!

Learn more about Abi Grace HERE. Learn more about MythFest HERE.



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Mythfest Photo Shoot

7/22/2014

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PicturePhoto by Stephanie Mallard Couch 2014
     We had our photo shoot this past Thursday, and the weather somewhat cooperated by at least being dry and dropping by a couple degrees, but it was still pretty hot out, and some of us were in a *mood* for various and totally legitimate reasons that had nothing to do with MythFest and everything to do with things like traffic, technology and transportation issues!

     Location photo shoots, especially in public places, are always interesting, though I felt I'd done a pretty good job of finding a place with less foot & auto traffic, than, say, the column park on the corner of Pike and Boren. However, as we were getting ready to start up, a fitness group came by to do a workout in the space! They were really nice and neither group got in each other's way, but it was definitely an interesting element to work with, i.e. trying to artfully angle the shots so we didn't end up with spandex-clad aerobicizers in the background.

     It took us a little over an hour, but we managed to get most of what we were interested in, especially some fun, stylized shots of us with red scarves over our faces...I feel like a bit of a broken record with this image (having used it now, several times) but I can't help it - it's a striking image. Judge for yourself - I've included a couple of Stephanie's shots below, amid a couple of my *far less superior* phone shots.


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    Mythodical Ensemble

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