All Our Tragic - Part I: All Our Tragic, #1

By Sean Graney

"By whatever alchemy, it serves the greatest collection of stories ever written—adds to them, modernizes them, makes them feel fresh, forces you to see them both strange and familiar...There has not been anything quite like this ever before." - THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE

A contemporary Festival of Dionysus! This massive work by playwright Sean Graney undertakes a day-long play retelling of the thirty-two surviving Greek tragedies. PART I: HEROICS includes:

PROMETHEUS BOUND
THE SEVEN SISTERS
THE CYCLOPS
MEDEA
ALKESTIS
HYPPOLYTUS
THE SUPPLIANT
THE PERSIANS
PHÈDRE
HERACLES
WOMEN OF TRACHIS
THE HERACLEIDAE

 

"All Our Tragic is a sprawling, messy, at-times-brilliant show, much like the lives of those it portrays and would hope to honor. It is a singular achievement, one not likely to be repeated any time soon." - GAPERS BLOCK, CHICAGO

"We see the full range of relationships between husbands and wives, parents and children, sisters and brothers, politicians and citizens, generals and soldiers. We see the horrors and insanity of war in all their extremity, the gruesome payback for sexual betrayals, the high price paid for loyalty, the futility of prophecy and the wages of guilt. We see people driven to acts of both devotion and madness. We feel the lust for power, the ache for home, and the inevitability of death." - CHICAGO SUN-TIMES

"An ambitious production that exceeds expectation (as if it's possible to even know what to expect of a 12-hour performance!), All Our Tragic is simply unforgettable, on so many levels. It's not really a show or even a play, but an experience, a total immersion into the imaginations of Sean Graney and the Greeks. The end result is that the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides really do become ours: they are all our tragic." - STAGE AND CINEMA

• Language: English
• Publisher: David Blixt
• Release date: Oct 14, 2023
• ISBN: 9781957328201

Book preview

Prologue

(ODD-JOB ALICE enters on the three-door platform. She wears a Greek peplos as a work uniform and carries a guitar or some other musical instrument)

ODD-JOB ALICE

Another day.

(ODD-JOB SOAPY enters wearing an identical uniform and carrying another instrument)

ODD-JOB SOAPY

Odd-Job Alice, good to see you.

ODD-JOB ALICE

You too, Odd-Job Soapy.

ODD-JOB SOAPY

New one in yet?

ODD-JOB ALICE

You see her?

(ODD-JOB ERDIE enters)

ODD-JOB ERDIE

Erdie is here,

First day!

So what do we do?

ODD-JOB ALICE

Odd jobs.

ODD-JOB SOAPY

Announce stuff.

ODD-JOB ALICE

Keep track.

ODD-JOB SOAPY

And sing, songs. A few other things happen.

ODD-JOB ERDIE

What do we do first?

ODD-JOB SOAPY

Part 1: Heroics.

(ODD-JOB ALICE and ODD-JOB SOAPY start to play a song)

ODD-JOB ERDIE

Oh, I got the perfect thing,

I thought we might be singing songs.

(ODD-JOB ERDIE exits for a second, and re-enters with an accordion. The ODD-JOBS sing)

[THE SONG TO PURIFY]

Act I

(ODD-JOB ALICE opens a big sliding door. PROMETHEUS enters, enchained, much abused, and basks in the sun. The song ends)

ODD-JOB ALICE

The beginning: Prometheus.

(The ODD-JOBS start the day by getting settled in their area and begin the creation of the blackboard, they create a frame for the Death Tally and write PROMETHEUS)

PROMETHEUS

I love this time of day,

When the sun wraps us all in soft glow.

It’s like the world becomes us,

And we become it.

Makes one happy to be alive, Prometheus.

…

Sure does, Prometheus.

(NŌMAN enters, he carries a heavy wooden club)

NŌMAN

Hello.

PROMETHEUS

Welcome to Red Mountain,

You look strong, are you strong?

What’s your name?

NŌMAN

Nōman.

(An ODD-JOB writes NŌMAN on the blackboard, and this continues every time a new character enters)

PROMETHEUS

That’s too bad, you’re not him.

NŌMAN

Who?

PROMETHEUS

If you don’t know,

It shouldn’t concern you.

NŌMAN

Are you some kind of prisoner?

PROMETHEUS

Yes, look upon Prometheus Bound!

I was enchained by the Tyrant Monster!

NŌMAN

Which Tyrant Monster?

PROMETHEUS

There’s more than one Tyrant Monster?

NŌMAN

There are tons of Tyrants and tons of Monsters.

What did you do to get chained?

PROMETHEUS

I armed people in a rebellion,

By giving them the greatest weapon mankind can use.

NŌMAN

What’s that?

PROMETHEUS

Knowledge, the spark from which better worlds blaze.

NŌMAN

Doesn’t anyone guard over you?

PROMETHEUS

No need,

These chains are too strong for normal men to wrench.

NŌMAN

So no one comes by to punish you or anything?

PROMETHEUS

Oh, there’s punishment,

The Ever-Hungry Colossal Eagle feasts upon my liver every day,

Just enough to heal by the next day’s visit,

Then she flies again.

NŌMAN

That’s not real.

PROMETHEUS

What do you gain by mistrusting?

(Enter PHÆDRE and MÉDÉE carrying a small case)

PHÆDRE

Where are we?

MÉDÉE

No notion,

But we should be safe.

PROMETHEUS

Welcome to Red Mountain.

MÉDÉE

Back off man.

(MÉDÉE threatens people with her case)

PHÆDRE

Please excuse my friend,

She only protects me.

NŌMAN

What do you need protection from?

PHÆDRE

We’re on the run from the Minotaur.

PROMETHEUS

Why?

PHÆDRE

The Bull Man fathered me by forcing himself onto my mother,

And now as some kind of sick perpetual pledge,

He began an incest-hunt of me.

MÉDÉE

So we run,

Keep running, always run,

With nowhere to go,

And no one to care.

Come on, Phædre.

NŌMAN

Isn’t there someone that can help you?

MÉDÉE

We don’t trust anyone,

Except for each other.

PHÆDRE

Before we go,

Do you need help with those chains?

PROMETHEUS

These bonds are strong, miss.

PHÆDRE

Maybe my friend could use some charm to break them,

She’s studying to be a…

MÉDÉE

A Pyrakis, a pie-ra-kiss.

NŌMAN

What’s a Py-ra-kis?

MÉDÉE

I mix fire and potions.

NŌMAN

Like a witch?

MÉDÉE

No, like a Pyrakis.

PROMETHEUS

What’s your name?

MÉDÉE

Médée.

PROMETHEUS

Then I don’t need you to break the chains.

MÉDÉE

I didn’t want to help anyway.

(Enter JASON and THESEUS)

JASON

Excuse me,

How are you all?

Great.

PROMETHEUS

Welcome to Red Mountain,

I usually don’t get this many visitors.

JASON

Great,

I’m Jason,

I captain the ship called the Argo.

Perhaps you’ve heard of me?

(No one responds)

No?

Anyway, this is one of my Argonauts, Theseus.

THESEUS

Hi-yo.

JASON

He’s an orphan, and a father.

He’s boring.

(THESEUS shrugs)

JASON

We’re looking for something called…

What’s it called?

THESEUS

The Gold Fleece.

JASON

The Gold Fleas.

I have to obtain it to rule a land,

But I know nothing about these Gold Fleas.

NŌMAN

Neither do I.

PHÆDRE

The Gold Fleece?

JASON

You have some information, kid?

MÉDÉE

Phædre, keep private.

PHÆDRE

{They might be able to help us,

They have a boat.}

JASON

We do have a boat.

It’s pretty nice.

NŌMAN

What type of boat is it?

JASON

It’s a boat, it goes on the water.

THESEUS

It’s a bireme galley.

My little son, Hippolytus, is the first mate.

He’s got a cute outfit.

Adorable.

JASON

Theseus, really, no one cares.

MÉDÉE

Phædre, it’s just me and you,

Let’s not ruin that.

PHÆDRE

I’m a little sick of running.

THESEUS

Why are they running?

PROMETHEUS

Her father, the Minotaur,

Seeks to cause some unnatural troubles.

PHÆDRE

{Tell them about the Gold Fleece, Médée, please.

I think the other one is kind of cute.}

MÉDÉE

Fine, the Gold Fleece belongs to my brother.

JASON

Hot stuff! Will he give it you?

MÉDÉE

No, I hate my brother,

My brother hates me.

JASON

Girl, if you can get the Gold Fleece from your brother,

You’ll never need to run from anything again.

Theseus and I will protect both of you.

Isn’t that right Theseus?

THESEUS

Sure, no Minotaur problems.

JASON

You guys have names?

PHÆDRE

This is Médée,

I’m Phædre.

JASON

Well Médée, have your brother give up that Gold Fleece,

And Jason Argonautika will be the man you’ve been waiting for.

MÉDÉE

I’m not waiting for a man.

JASON

All girls are, you’ll see.

How old are you?

MÉDÉE

Sixteen.

JASON

In all those sixteen years,

You never realized,

How capable you are for greatness?

MÉDÉE

No.

JASON

Well, it’s true.

There’s something about you, girl,

Behind all this hair.

(JASON folds MÉDÉE’s hair behind her ear)

JASON

There it is, look at that face,

Has anyone seen a better looking face?

PHÆDRE

I haven’t.

JASON

What do you say, Médée,

Will you help this friendly guy out?

MÉDÉE

You’re interested? In me?

JASON

No poppycock, kid, I swear you got special all over you.

I bet most boys don’t see it,

But I do, something that could change the world.

MÉDÉE

Fine, I’ll get the Gold Fleece from my brother.

JASON

That a girl!

(JASON kisses MÉDÉE. There’s a terrible screeching above)

PROMETHEUS

Everyone, it’s the Ever-Hungry Colossal Eagle!

HIPPOLYTUS’ VOICE (offstage)

Dad, Eagle attack!

Run to the Argo!

I’ll raise the sails!

THESEUS

Coming, Hippolytus!

Such a smart kid.

Come on.

(THESEUS, MÉDÉE, and PHÆDRE exit)

JASON

I can break those shackles if you want.

PROMETHEUS

I forgot, tell me your name again.

JASON

Jason.

PROMETHEUS

No thanks.

JASON

You kid, you coming?

NŌMAN

I can wait until the last second,

I’m sort of fast.

JASON

Fine, be eaten.

PROMETHEUS

Be careful Jason.

JASON

You be careful,

I’m going to the safety of my