Circe
Circe, daughter of the sun-god Helios and the sea-nymph Perse, was a goddess and a witch. She was Aunt to Medea, and cleansed Medea and Jason after they murder Medea’s brother. Circe lived on the island Aeaea with four nymph attendants and a variety of tamed wild beasts. In the myths about her, these beasts have either been pacified through herbs by the goddess or are unlucky men she has bewitched. Not one to take being scorned lightly, Circe turned Scylla into the six headed sea-monster we know her as today after Glaucus, a fisher turned sea god, chose Scylla over her. She also transformed King Picus into a woodpecker when he refused to be unfaithful to his wife and bed Circe. However Circe also didn’t appreciate being pursued relentlessly either, King Kalkhos finds this out the hard way after she changed him into a pig because of his unyielding courtship of her. Odysseus is the only man she seemed able to tolerate for any period of time, though that had a lot to do with him getting advice and the antidote to her charms, a white flower with black roots named moly, from Hermes before the two ever meet. Odysseus and his crew stay on Aeaea for a year, after which Circe advises them on how to return home to Ithaca. Odysseus fathers a number of sons with the goddess, the number changes depending on which version of the myth you read. There are no accounts of Circe’s death, but in some tales after Odysseus passes his body is brought back to her island and she brings him back to life as a horse and in this form the two spend eternity together.
Volleying between cruelty and kindness, Circe is defined by her reaction to the emotion love. Though she clearly chose to be cruel more often than not, it is the moments of her kindness that most inspire playwright Rachel Bublitz. Circe is a character that is changed by the love of another so much so, that this selfish Goddess releases the love of her life because it is what is best for him. In Rachel’s one-act play Circe is a teenage girl having an affair with her much older boss. Through the course of the play they push their feelings for one another to the limits while trying to find a new harmony in their relationship.
CIRCE or “Dread Circe” by Rachel Bublitz
Directed by Claire Rice
Staged Reading on November 19, 2015
Rachel Bublitz is thrilled to be writing for the San Francisco Olympians Festival for her third year in a row. Rachel founded the 31 Plays in 31 Days Project, is a Youth Ambassador for the Dramatists Guild of America, and has been a member of the PlayGround Writers’ Pool since 2013. In January of 2016 her full length play Of Serpents & Sea Spray will premiere in San Francisco at Custom Made Theatre Company. Her full length play The Fantasy Club was produced by All Terrain Theater in downtown San Francisco. Her short plays have been produced around the country and abroad with Playwrights Foundation, The One-Minute Play Festival, Subversive Theatre Collective, San Jose Rep’s Emerging Artist Lab (SJReal), Wily West Productions, Playwright’s Center of San Francisco, Unity Stage Company, Gi60: The International One Minute Theatre Festival, as well as many others. Her play My Body was published in The Best Ten-Minute Plays 2014. She is currently pursuing an MA in English as well as an MFA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. Her plays include Under The Gods’ Golden Cleats, The Red House Monster, Rosie, Bloody Rosie, Mom’s Ham, Much Ado About Mathletes, and Clever Catherine. When Rachel isn’t writing, she’s chasing after her two viking-like children.