Phoebe and Theia
As is the case with many female figures in ancient history and mythology, not much is known about Phoebe and Theia beyond the names of their husbands and the lists of their children. Today, the Titan goddesses of light are best known as the mothers and grandmothers of Olympian gods: Helios, Eos, Selene, Apollo and Artemis. But before the reign of the Olympians, the Titans were test-driving the universe. From a matriarchy begun out of Chaos by Eurynome, the Goddess of All Things, the Titan women were soon forgotten after the rise of Zeus as king of the gods. Though Phoebe and Theia built the chariots of the sun and moon, Helios and Selene are remembered for driving light though the day and night skies.
Phoebe & Thiea, or How to Get to Tartarus imagines a new mythology in which the goddesses fall nine days to Earth and nine more days to Tartarus to spend eternity together with the secret truths about their loyalties and betrayals in the War of the Titans.
PHOEBE AND THEIA by Amy Clare Tasker
Directed by Annie Paladino
staged reading on December 7, 2012 at 8 PM
Siobhan Marie Doherty (Phoebe)
Marilet Martinez (Theia)
Amy Clare Tasker is a director and playwright as well as a founding member of Inkblot Ensemble, and an associate artist with Atmos Theatre. She served as general manager for The Cutting Ball Theater from 2008 to 2011. As a founding member of Inkblot Ensemble, Amy has developed and directed All’s Fair and Satellites, two new plays inspired by ancient mythology. For Cutting Ball, she has directed Ben Jonson’s Epicoene and Euripides’ Andromache and Medea for The Hidden Classics Reading Series, and assistant-directed Eugenie Chan’s Bone to Pick & Diadem (dir. Rob Melrose) and Madame Ho (dir. Rob Melrose – staged reading) as well as Will Eno’s Thom Pain (based on nothing) (dir. Marissa Wolf). In 2008, she staged managed Cutting Ball’s productions of Avant GardARAMA! and Victims of Duty. Elsewhere in the Bay Area, she has directed Alice in Wonderland for Atmos Theatre; Antigone for San Francisco Theater Pub’s Theban Chronicles, and Daniel Heath’s short play Nothing Works for the Bay One Acts Festival IX. Upcoming projects in 2012 include directing August Strindberg’s The Stronger for Cutting Ball Theater’s Hidden Classics Reading Series, assistant directing Strindberg Cycle: The Chamber Plays in Rep (dir. Rob Melrose) at Cutting Ball, continuing the development of Satellites with Inkblot Ensemble, and collaborating with fellow Olympians Festival writer Megan Cohen on 1000 Ships, a new Helen of Troy story. Amy holds a B.A in Drama from U.C. Irvine, with honors from the Claire Trevor School of the Arts and the Campus-wide Honors Program. She has also studied playwriting and directing at the University of Manchester/Royal Exchange Theatre.