SF Olympians

Without The Golden Apple of Discord, there can be no Trojan War. Eris, the Goddess of Discord, very much lived up to her title when she tossed an enticing golden apple from the Garden of Hesperides into a wedding celebration to which she was not invited. The Golden Apple wore an inscription – “for the fairest”. Zeus, hesitant to make the call himself, put the responsibility on poor Paris, a Trojan mortal, to choose who was most worthy of this fateful phrase: Hera, Athena or Aphrodite. The three Goddesses appeared before Paris, nude, and each attempted to bribe him into making a decision in their favor. Hera offered to make him the king of Europe and Asia. Athena offered him wisdom and skill in war. Aphrodite offered him something more visceral – the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen of Sparta. Naturally, he chose Helen, and without knowing it, he chose the Trojan War.

The absurdity of Paris’ situation led Allison Page to examine the conundrum in the only natural way – through the lens of a game show. Complete with a fast talking host (Zeus), a trio of fates who speak in jingles (Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos), one anxious contestant (Paris) and three beautiful but conniving Goddesses (Athena, Hera, Aphrodite), Allison Page seeks to uncover how Paris might have felt in this situation as well as the overall idea that if something is fate, then what’s the point of choosing?

Helen Noakes, who is also writing a play about the Golden Apple, writes, “Apples seem to be symbolic catalysts to immense changes in human history. It is always Woman (with a capital “W”) who wields that fruit, whether golden or otherwise, to instigate those changes. Men, seem to be hapless victims, or, in the case of the Trojan Wars, ambitious opportunists. I wanted to investigate that aspect of the myth.”

THE GOLDEN APPLES (I and II) by Helen Noakes and Allison Page
Directed by Robert Estes and Charles Lewis III
staged reading Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Megan Briggs (Athena/Hera)

Melissa Clason (Aphrodite/Athena)

Juliana Egley (Hera/Aphrodite)

Don Hardwick (Zeus/Zeus)

Scott Leonard (Paris)

Paul Rodrigues (Hermes/Paris)

Michelle Talgarow (Stage Directions)

Kitty Torres (Helen)

Helen Noakes’, first full length play, Memento Mori, was selected as a semifinalist for the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center’s 2009 National Playwrights Conference. Her shorter plays and works in progress received staged readings in San Francisco, at the Magic Theatre, The Phoenix Theatre, and The Mariposa Studio. Her non-fiction has been published internationally, and she writes an on-line op-ed column, Waking Point, published by Weekly Hubris (www.weeklyhubris.com). She continues to write plays, and is writing a novel, which is currently being developed with a writer’s group at the Mechanics’ Institute Library. She is a member of The Dramatists Guild and Theatre Bay Area, an active member of Playwrights of Promise and continues developing both full length and short plays at Will Dunne’s Dramatic Writing Workshops. Helen is very pleased to say that this is the third time that she has presented work at the SF Olympians Festival.

Allison Page is a comedian/writer/actor originally from the frigid frozen tundra of northern Minnesota which, like it or not, colors everything she does. She founded, produced, and directed her traveling theatrical company Big Al’s Traveling Theatre in the frozen north for 5 years before she escaped, directing and acting in ROMEO AND JULIET, THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, THE RED HERRING, IMPOLITE COMEDY, BAREFOOT IN THE PARK and some other shows she has long forgotten. She landed the role of Myrtle Mae in HARVEY at The Paul Bunyan Playhouse and took that as a sign that she was ready to fry some bigger fish. Allison then took off to Thailand to play the role of Arlecchino in A GAP IN GENERATIONS. The bay area has now been her home for nearly 5 years, during which time she has become a company member of local sketch comedy mammoth Killing My Lobster, and has worked with Boxcar Theatre, The Custom Made Theatre Co., San Francisco Theater Pub, The San Francisco Olympians Festival, The San Francisco Comedy College, The SF Fringe Festival, The SF Theater Festival, The SF Improv Festival, SF Sketch Fest, and a nearly three and a half year stint in the hurricane that is TONY ‘N TINA’S WEDDING. Allison is a part of long form improv troupe CLEAN SANCHEZ, as well as a duo with her ex fiancé called WEGENT & PAGE. She appears in the web series EVERYBODY’S A COMEDIAN as herself. She performs stand up comedy whenever she has time to breathe, which isn’t as often as she’d like. You can usually find her writing character dialogue at her ritzy day job, and you can see her next playing Rita in The Custom Made Theatre Co.’s production of PRELUDE TO A KISS.

The piece of art for The Golden Apple was created by Cody A. Rishell!