Harpies
Harpies were the spirits of the winds, the storm winds. Known as the invisible thieves of Greek mythology, they were winged creatures who at the behest of the Gods stole objects and people, delivering them from earth to the immortal realms. At Zeus’ request, they stole the food of King Phineus, torturing him with starvation on a deserted island. At Hades’ request, they delivered individuals to the underworld, never to be seen again. Serving as tormentors and executioners, mortals came to believe that the harpies inflicted their own punishment on criminals and innocents alike.
They were the daughters of Electra, the sea nymph and Thaumus, the seagod. Three sisters: Aello, meaning storm; Ocypete meaning swift-wing (who was the fastest of the three); and Celaeno, the dark one. With time, some of the facts of the harpies have become distorted: such as their lineage, the number of sisters, their names and their visage. In earlier versions of the myths, they were described as maidens, beautiful and lovely. Time mutilated their image however and they became old, bird-like creatures with talons who left behind them repellant odors. While the facts of their story often depend on the author, there was no doubt that they were swiftest, most formidable thieves of the ancient world.
About her play about the harpies, Victoria Der says, “As a child, I wrote because it gave me the power to bend reality to my truth: a blue mouse in my wall who whispered into my dreams, a tree that watched over me when tempers flared, dimpled promises from the moon that wishes came true. I believe that we are a people born with full hearts and roads and roads of difficult choices. And yet, if we’re lucky and it’s a Tuesday, some of us find magic in our laps and others of us find ourselves with a wedgie and no lunch money. Because this world is strange, we don’t often know how to have a wedgie and rejoice with a full heart for the lucky. Vice versa, it is hard to have magic in your lap and give your full attention to wedgie-boy. One of the great powers of theater though is the ability to drive home the significance of every character and idea: you can understand the trials of the lucky bastard as well as the small triumphs of Wedgie Boy, Super Nerd-xtraordinaire. These days, I flipped the script and write to bend my truth to reality; all storytellers do. It is only natural that at least a small bit of our history, ideas of social construct, and perception find our way into our work but probably only if we’re lucky and if it’s a Tuesday.”
HARPIES by Victoria Chong Der
Directed by Libby Vega
Staged Reading on November 19, 2014
Erika Bakse (Caelan)
Alan Coyne (Boss)
Lorenz Angelo Gonzales (Rock)
Karl Schackne (Mikey)
Jacinta Sutphin (Ayla)
Victoria Chong Der has a BA in Creative Writing from Oberlin College. Her works have been produced in Ohio, Vermont, Maryland and California. Her most recent play is Balancing, which received a staged reading at the ACT Costume Shop. She is a member of the PlayGround Writers’ Pool and the NewWorks Incubator Program at the Asian American Theater Company.
The image of the Harpies was created by Brett Grunig! You can see more of his work here!