TEREUS IN FRAGMENTS: A LOST PLAY OF SOPHOCLES by Lisa Maurizio Lewiston ME 04240 [email protected] Tereus in Fragments is based on an ancient Greek myth about Tereus’ (male) violence and Philomela and Procne’s (female) revenge. It has been the subject of several modern dramas, most recently Joanna Laurens’ The Three Birds. Lisa Maurizio’s Tereus in Fragments: A Lost Play of Sophocles, however, differs from most modern adaptations of this myth in several respects. Her play more closely follows ancient tragic Greek conventions, especially Sophocles’ original, though now largely lost, tragedy Tereus. Philomela, for example, is a mute character in this play, as she seems to have been in Sophocles’ Tereus. In addition, Maurizio has translated and incorporated the few lines that survive from Sophocles’ play. More notably, Maurizio focuses less on Tereus’ violence (or male violence in general, the theme of many modern adaptations of this myth) and more on Procne’s longing for her sister and the fluidity of female identity. To this end, Maurizio has incorporated women’s poetry from around the world in her script, from Sappho’s ancient Greek lyrics to Forugh Farrokhzad’s modern Iranian verse. Copyrighted by Lisa Maurizio This script is available for performance and production on the condition that the author is acknowledged and notified. Changes to the script require the author’s permission. TEREUS IN FRAGMENTS: A LOST PLAY OF SOPHOCLES CHARACTERS Procne - young woman Tereus - man Philomela - mute young woman Nurse - old woman Itys - boy Servant - old man Chorus of Sirens - 3 bird-women when no mark appears, all three speak together, otherwise different voices are indicated by *, #, ^ ACT I Procne, an Athenian princess who resides in Thrace with her husband Tereus, desires to see her sister Philomela. A chorus of Sirens who nest on the roof of Tereus' palace encourage Procne to ask Tereus to allow the sisters to visit one another. Tereus reluctantly sets off to Athens to fetch Philomela. ACT II Tereus returns to Thrace with a mute Philomela. Philomela gives Procne a robe she wove during the journey from Athens to Thrace. Through the interpretation of Itys, Procne's son, and the Sirens, the robe reveals the story of Tereus' cruelty to Philomela. ACT III Philomela and Procne exact their revenge on Tereus for his cruelty. The Sirens promise a new myth will be added to their repetoire of tales and the gods transform all three protagonists into birds to save them from their own wayward hearts. ACT I 2 NURSE If only man had never tried to capture the shadow of the moon's roundness in wooden hoops under laden wagons, had never slipped a rope around the leafless body of a newly cut tree, and perfumed linen sails with his desire, then Tereus the merchant from Thrace would never have turned the wine dark seas into trades routes and profits. Ten years ago, Tereus the Thracian sailed to Greece. There he found Athens' citadel under attack, and saved it from certain destruction in exchange for one precious Athenian good: Procne, King Pandion's first-born daughter, princess of Athens. The Athenians celebrated the union between Procne and Tereus, Greek and Barbarian, as much for its novelty as for their own safety. When Tereus filled his ships with Athenian wares and one Athenian woman, Procne watched the white of her father's head and the white of her marble home become two dots on her dwindling horizon. When Tereus' ship reached Thracian ports, Procne watched her dowry become coins in her new husband's hands. "Silver-loving is the whole barbarian race"i she mused, as Tereus unloaded his ship and traded everything she once owned, even her sun-whitened clothes, filled with 3 the hours and scents of her mother's body spent at the loom. Torn, some garments filled with the stench of fish and decorated Thracian docks. Others, still intact, were quickly folded and tucked into Thracian wagons. Procne enters. PROCNE Barren is the home of Tereus the barbarian. NURSE Procne wagered with herself, as she traveled from port to palace, and tried not to notice that she had entered the silence of a foreign tongue where she would not be able to find even a simple word, like "I." Then, from loneliness fused with an old passion, Itys was born, marker of a sorrow Tereus never saw. Now Procne wanders aimlessly amongst Tereus' shining trophies. She says nothing. I call to her. Itys, her son, calls to her. Procne simultaneously murumurs "Itys, my son, calls to me." NURSE "She sits, and between her she does not exist for the first time she does not exist; why should she answer?"ii Procne simultaneously murumurs "why should I answer?" PROCNE "I am nothing far away from my home. Often I have observed women's lot from this perspective” 4 [and now I live it] “we are as nothing"iii to those who peer in our long days spent among children and servants. Mere ghosts in a world shadowed by men. "In childhood in our father's house we live the happiest life, I think, of all mankind; for folly always rears children in happiness. But when we have understanding and have come to youthful vigour, we are pushed out and sold, away from our paternal gods and from our parents, some to foreign husbands, some to barbarians, some to joyless homes, and some to homes that are [drafty and poor]. And this, once a single night has yoked us, we must approve and consider to be happiness."iv NURSE "This is painful, Procne, that is clear; but none the less we are mortals and must put up with what the gods send us."v PROCNE Despite the fact that the gods made you a servant, "I envy you for many features of your life, but most of all because you have no experience of any foreign land."vi You may walk a dusty road your mother once adored; hear laughter you have never forgotten. You may go where you have been, while I, an exile, wander always, even in sleep, and for home have only my skin. NURSE "Mankind is one tribe; one day in the life of father and mother brought to birth all of us; none was born superior to any other."vii Still, do not sneer at the prosperity the gods have sent you. Whether in Greece or Thrace, you have lived only in wealthy houses. 5 Why not accept your new country as easily as you have accepted Tereus' treasures? PROCNE I am one of Tereus' treasures. No human touch recalls me to myself so that I might know I live. "Then I am alone; I trust no one but myself I caress my body I caress my awkward body. Not that it matters; I hardly mind because I dreamt myself lying down a golden deer in the valley."viii Nurse murmurs simultaneously "Then I am alone; I trust no one but myself I caress my body I caress my awkward body. Not that it matters; I hardly mind because I dreamt myself lying down a golden deer in the valley " NURSE Procne, awake you are the mother of a living child. You have kindred blood here. PROCNE I have a son whose wedding day will erase 6 the memory of lavender scenting my breast where he nursed. NURSE No one can say what the future will hold. You will have more sons, more children. PROCNE of Tereus...a long line of Thracians, each doubling my pain "like the layers of heavy night bedding heaped upon me, adding to the burden" of my sorrow.ix Though not yet a woman with white hair, I go nowhere in the future. NURSE "Tangled white wisps like frosty grass lie on [my] head. The sidelocks, once glossy, cling to wilted flesh like splattered ink. I am an old woman"x with no children alone, and in a stranger's house I serve. Procne murmurs simultaneously, "alone, and in a stranger's house I serve." PROCNE If only I could disappear from myself, and never know how slight a thing I have become. Stripped of my native tongue, owning no possessions, I am mere possession. I cannot conjure myself into existence. Nurse murmurs simultaneously, "owning no possessions, I am mere possession." I can not conjure myself into existence." 7 But once long ago, at my father's long tables, during the third libation, I sang songs of love in my mother tongue. Never had I felt so attached to life. NURSE "When she began to remember it was summer; no one else existed and she took only what she wanted."xi Procne murmurs simultaneously "When I began to remember it was summer; no one else existed and I took only what I wanted." PROCNE Behind me there is a hill with a house, a quiet house, except for my sister's singing and a long stairway to a marble well, dark and filled with song. We carried pitchers of cool water, our hearts at ease on a quiet dusty road my mind still travels. Now "every time the autumn wind whistles through my hollow eyes, my hollow eyes… I want not to say it, but it is"xii my sister, a small girl with auburn hair and a quick smile who knew me once, who could remember me to myself whom I want beyond all measure. "I loved her once...long ago She was like a child to me... 8 Philomela, little and graceless."xiii "'Honestly I wish I were dead.' She was weeping when I left."xiv My sister Philomela.