EROS AND PSYCHE – at Northern Stage and York Theatre Royal
Love, beauty, suffering, and the search for the soul, meet in the myth of Eros and Psyche.
Socrates questioned it …
Eros made sure of it …
Aphrodite excelled at it…
and Psyche thought about it all the time …
While Socrates and his friends debate the purpose of love over dinner – in the Other World a power play of beauty and jealousy is under way. Aphrodite, Goddess of Love, expects to be worshipped, and when beautiful mortal Psyche begins to attract too much attention, Eros is sent with a quiver full of arrows and ill-intent to seek revenge. But in a darkly comic twist, Eros falls in love with Psyche himself!
In this performance I have brought together two classical texts, the mythical romance of Eros and Psyche and Plato’s Symposium. The myth of Eros and Psyche exists in many cultures. The earliest written version is 2000 years old, written in Latin, by North African rhetorician Apuleius. The myth is part of his stunning narrative about magic The Golden Ass and contains hidden Platonic ideas. Plato (427 – 347 B.C.) was a myth-maker who dressed truth up as stories and used hoary old Socrates to convey his ideas. I have used The Symposium as a counterpoint to Psyche’s quest, weaving Socratic thought through the performance. Myth, fairytale, and raucous Greek philosophy merge, asking ‘what is the path of love?
20th FEBRUARY – NORTHERN STAGE, NEWCASTLE, Box office: 0191 230 5151
23rd FEBRUARY – YORK THEATRE ROYAL, Box office: 01904 623 568
These events are produced by The Crick Crack Club in collaboration with Northern Stage and York Theatre Royal – thanks to all for your support.
Two lovely reviews of the performance at Northern Stage have been written! Thank you very much for coming to the shows – the audience are half the performance and help me make each one.
Carl Bennett
Sally, do you think you could promote what you’re doing and where a bit more here, with more lead-time? I’d love to come and see your shows, but I only ever hear about them when they’re either over or on the next day!
Seriously, what are you doing next, and where?
Sally Pomme
I know! Sometimes it’s hard to do the performances AND the publicity! I am touring ‘The Three Snake Leaves’ next – see my previous post – which I wrote a while ago and should have given more time!