SF Olympians

While they both have made valuable contributions to Greek mythology, Peleus may be best known for fathering Achilles (you know, the star of Homer’s Illiad) while Laertes was the baby daddy to Odysseus (the central character in Homer’s the Odyssey). Peleus ruled as the king of Aegina with his wife, Thetis and Laertes was married to Anticlea where they controlled Ithaca and the islands nearby. Sure, these two figures are notable on their own but these fellas helped provide DNA to two extraordinary figures who were instrumental in the Trojan War and beyond and for the purposes of this year’s festival, their paternal achievements will be showcased.

To explore some of the feelings parents face before their child is born, Ashley Cowan’s piece will place Peleus and Laertes in a “baby training class” marketed to first time parents who are expecting the arrival of their new bundles of joy. It may be SantaCon in San Francisco but Peleus and Laertes are busy learning the realities of what raising an infant means, the fears each parent faces, and the stupid assumptions people can make before venturing into a new role. By setting the two expecting dads together, vulnerabilities of becoming a father and all the feelings associated with it (and how we compensate to hide them) will be examined in this comedic glimpse into early parenthood.

PELEUS/LAERTES by Ashley Cowan
Directed by Steven Westdahl
Staged Reading on November 11, 2015

Ashley Cowan is originally from Avon, CT and went to school at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island. After graduating, she moved to New York City to become a starving artist before moving to San Francisco as a moderately hungry artist where she’s been enjoying burritos ever since. She’s had the privilege of working with a handful of Bay Area theater companies including: Atmos Theatre, Custom Made Theatre, PianoFight, No Nude Men, Un-Scripted, Young Performers Theatre, and San Francisco Theater Pub. Ashley is thrilled to be returning to Olympus for the fifth year as a writer where she’ll be channeling her first year of motherhood into her piece. If you can’t live without her witty ways until November, you can keep up with her biweekly Theater Pub column “Cowan Palace” or read more of her thoughts on reality television while enjoying an endless stream of new baby and pet pictures by following her on Twitter at: twitter.com/AshCows.