‘Mythic Bodies’, Q&A with cast and crew

Mythic Bodies is the latest production from Roman Cowboy Productions. A bold new theatrical anthology inspired by Ovid's Heroides, the production blends original writing, live music and performance, with a host of international artists using the evening to reclaim the voices of women from ancient mythology through a series of interconnected monologues. Each performer has written and stars in their own piece, with the guidance of three directors and live pianist accompaniments. The production explores themes of agency, womanhood, morality and the enduring power of myth. Ahead of its one-night-only performance at Avalon Café, I spoke to the cast and creative team about reimagining classical stories, collaborative theatre-making and why these ancient voices still resonate today.

Questions for company/creatives:

Tell us a little about Roman Cowboy Productions. How did the company come about and what is your artistic vision?

Taylor Carmen: Both myself and Cristiano graduated from NYU, where the mantra they repeat over and over is “Make Your Own Work.” It’s something that we were both already doing quite organically, and earlier started discussing what a more formal approach would look like. We wanted to create a community that encouraged collaboration no matter the distance. Our friends are all over the world, but we have technology…why can’t we make art with people no matter where they are? We also wanted to support other international artists living here in London. Roman Cowboy was born from a desire to give people a comfortable, fun environment to make art in. This industry is already so competitive and challenging, we’re trying to build a culture of support so you feel excited to explore the unknown, not scared.

What inspired you to create Mythic Bodies? How did this project begin?

Cristiano Benfenati: It came from our desire to create without waiting for permission and from us wondering how fast we could make something we could be proud of. Stripping things down to see what we can add to them after we created them, but prioritizing raw storytelling. The classics felt like the right place to start looking, and Ovid’s Heroides was particularly striking in the choice of centering the women of these myths. Having these characters take center stage was exciting and moving at the same time, especially considering how far back in time they originated. Reading about them and then looking around at the people I have come to know thanks to my path in the arts - remarkably talented AFAB performers and writers - made it very easy to think that, together, we indeed could create something beautiful.

Why did Ovid’s work feel like the right source material to revisit now?

Cristiano Benfenati: The timelessness of these stories is certainly a factor. Love, passion, rage, grief, and the rest of the entire plethora of human emotions that are expressed by these mythological figures comes to us now with the same power. Moving us just as much. And because it is very easy for example to think of Theseus, but not necessarily of Ariadne, to think of Achilles and Menelaus, but not necessarily of Hermione, the idea of allowing these characters to claim their space in these stories becoming themselves the heroes or anti-heroes felt very timely.

The production is made up of original monologues written and performed by the actors (and directors) themselves. What sort of opportunities does this format offer?

Kay Brattan: What excites me most about a project like this is how many different voices are involved in making it. Six actors writing and performing their own work, three directors shaping those stories, a producer keeping all the moving parts together, and live music weaving through the whole thing. It's a real reminder that theatre is a collective art form. I'm also really looking forward to directing alongside two other female directors. We'll all bring different instincts and perspectives to the process, and I'm excited to have those different outside eyes on the work. As we start bringing the monologues together, I think the collaboration between us will be just as important as the collaboration with the actors. It's about finding the threads that connect these distinct voices so they become one shared conversation with the audience. It reminds me a lot of devising. You're building something collectively, even when every voice is completely distinct. I think that's what makes it such an exciting way to revisit these stories from antiquity. We're not looking for definitive versions of these myths, we're asking what they still have to say to us now, and making space for contemporary artists to answer back.

The women of Greek and Roman mythology have historically been defined by the perspectives of other male characters. In what ways does Mythic Bodies seek to reclaim or reframe these voices?

Alexandra Sophia Ashe: As a director the approach to reconstructing these stories for Mythic Bodies has felt much like putting on a hard hat and saying, “Well, it’s got good bones. Now let’s knock some stuff down.” It’s been equal parts rewarding, frustrating, and exciting in the reconstruction to find the pillars of these myths that must remain structurally the same– the load-bearing pieces– and what must, must, must be altered, demolished, and re-carved in order to give these women real, dimensional space to be housed. What tools do these women really have in their arsenal that they can use to stake their claim, to carve out a place for themselves in their own story, and what tools as modern feminist “architects” can we lend to them? Engaging with mythology is equally liberating– as many storytellers over time have interpreted and reinterpreted the classics to project their viewpoint– and tricky; What variables can we change while keeping the core intact and still honoring the agency these women have in their own myths? Can you imagine what new stories could arise if these characters acted from their own human choice, impulses, and emotions, rather than how they reacted from having those factors imposed upon them? Now, the goal of this show has not been, of course, to take thewrecking ball to famously, tragically beautiful classics that have existed through the annals of time for a reason! However, it is my opinion that these mythologies must be not only reinterpreted– not only reconstructing the house– but completing it, adding these characters in as fully autonomous actors representing the range of humanity, not just the foundation that was set for them as objects, obstacles, and consequences for male writers, characters, and audiences.

How have you navigated maintaining the individuality of the monologues whilst keeping this production feeling suitably cohesive?

Sasha Tzu-Yin Hsu: The women in The Heroides each possess distinct life experiences, personalities, and destinies. Yet they share a common history of oppression, abandonment, and being overlooked — of having existed for centuries within stories shaped by others. We did not seek to make the monologues uniform in language or performance style; instead, we wanted to honour the individuality of each voice. Their cohesion comes not from similarity, but from their shared human experience. Through this production, we aim to return narrative agency to these women, allowing each of them to explore the core of humanity and emotion from her own unique perspective. As a result, the audience encounters many different voices, while feeling the same emotional weight that connects them all.

Live piano accompaniment plays an important role throughout the evening. How does music contribute to the emotional landscape of the anthology?

Su Yeon Kim: Believing in the unique ability of music to carry emotion beyond words, in a piece like Mythic Bodies it also becomes a thread that connects six distinct voices into one shared theme and makes each voice distinctive at the same time. As an improvising pianist, my role is to respond in every single moment to the atmosphere of each story, shaping the music around the energy of the performers and allowing it to evolve alongside the audiences.The live score draws inspiration from a wide range of influences, reflecting both the ancient origins and the contemporary resonance of these heroines. Alongside echoes of classical and ancient Mediterranean tunes, there are touches strongly inspired by contemporary female artists such as Kate Bush, Stevie Nicks, Florence + The Machine and Chappell Roan. Hopefully, this blend allows the myths to feel both timeless and strikingly present. While music intertwines with the tradition of these classical stories, it feels fitting that live piano becomes another storyteller: heightening emotion, bridging the anthology's different narratives, and inviting audiences to experience these women's voices in a fresh and deeply human way.

The production explores themes of agency, womanhood and morality. What conversations are you hoping audiences will have after leaving the theatre?

Sasha Tzu-Yin Hsu: I hope audiences leave the theatre not only reconsidering these mythological figures, but also reflecting on the ways in which we have chosen to understand and remember them. I hope they begin conversations around questions such as: Who has the authority to tell a story? And when a woman is finally given the space to speak in her own voice, how does that transform our understanding of her? These questions are not confined to mythology; they remain deeply relevant in our society today.

Alexandra Sophia Ashe: Something I’m thinking about a lot as a director in this process is how to engage with the audience’s sense of catharsis in many of these women’s tragic stories, wondering whether that sense of emotional release will be available or denied them. On the one hand, putting agency back into these classic characters’ hands subverts and reinvents the myth and makes the audience more safe to feel and connect– how can we have asked them to do this previously with female characters that could not be fully realized agents in their own stories? Contrarily, I wonder if the subversion will deny, perhaps partially or fully, that sense of relief and release as it very well may force audiences to confront their own engagement with these classics as they have been told through a male-dominated voice throughout time. I hope the audience comes away with a sense of how much control they really have over the stories they’re told and retold, and how to take responsibility for these stories as compassionate witnesses and storytellers themselves.

Kay Brattan: I'd love people to leave talking about what we're willing to forgive in female characters. We spend so much time asking women in stories to be redeemable, likeable, or morally tidy. I'm much more interested in making space for women to be messy, contradictory, powerful, angry and unapologetic. They don't always need to earn our sympathy to deserve our attention.

Why did Avalon Café feel like the right venue for this one night only performance?

Cristiano Benfenati: We have been interested in exploring the creation of theatrical experiences in places that are not only theatres. This is a venue that lends itself to the stage, but that also has the air of performance, community, and music. This opened the doors to thinking about music as an element of the story as well, as a sort of homage to the musical tradition of the classical myths that have inspired these pieces.

Where do you hope to take Mythic Bodies in the future?

Cristiano Benfenati: As far as we can. I think that this is a great core of artists that are creating something very exciting in such little time. The possibilities are invigorating and whether we let these characters rest for a moment, or immediately jump into developing something longer, we absolutely aim at taking their stories further. We’re thinking it could be interesting to create something with all 15 Heroides. Maybe something that could be toured internationally or that could involve educational institutions. We are always on the lookout for possibilities to have different disciplines converge, so the prospect of having live performance and literature converge is a very exciting one.

Taylor Carmen: The potential Mythic Bodies has in educational spaces, I think, is immeasurable. One way we were taught Shakespeare that really resonated with me as a teenager was acting it out, no matter how cringe or embarrassing it was for an athlete to act as Romeo in his 10:00am English class. Bringing classical text to life, on its feet, is such a good way to get young people engaged and involved in their education. Mythic Bodies is something I believe could have a similar effect, whether it’s in conversation with classical literature classes, or with something more creative and elective. Young artists should feel inspired to go look for work that excites them, and then find new ways to adapt those stories. The themes of Mythic Bodies are a bit more mature, but I believe there’s a great way to unite our work with a program whose aim is to inspire young people to get creative.

What are your ambitions for the future of Roman Cowboy Productions?

Taylor Carmen: One short-term dream we have is to develop Roman Cowboy’s community events: things like our own scratch nights and creative mixers to expand the network of artists involved with us here in London. This company is also about platforming the work of international voices, so ideally that means taking our projects to international stages. We want to succeed in the big well known spots, like selling out a run during EdFringe, but we also want to bring art into spaces that aren’t artistically nourished as often. There are hundreds of cities across the UK and beyond in the EU that we’re sure would host a cultural exchange with the right project, so long-term we hope to find those “right” projects that can travel far and wide.

Questions for cast:

Each of you chose a different heroine from Ovid's Heroides. What drew you to your particular character and why did you want to tell her story?

Liz Kent: Hypermnestra called to me initially because of the ridiculousness of being 1 of 50 sisters who were married off to 50 brothers. Having only one sibling and knowing the chaotic dynamic of that relationship, I couldn’t imagine another 48. After reading more about her, I felt so drawn to her impossible choice- defy her family for love, defy her love for family- and the incredible bravery and self love it takes to make that choice.

Isabelle Dickey: If I’m being honest, when I was first cast in this role I was a bit skeptical. I struggled with how to connect to her story so I went back and forth a bit on if I wanted to choose a different of the Heroides to explore (as we were given the option to choose another if we wanted to). What drew me back to her however, was the poetry and intensity of her story. Only someone living in a world of extremes could ever go through these kinds of trials. Additionally, I was intrigued by her, and by what could compel a person to make the decisions she did. I’m very glad I did as I’m very proud of what this piece has become.

Sarah Knoepfli: Hermione is a woman who has been robbed of her agency. By her mother who abandoned her as a child, her grandfather who promised her to Orestes as a young girl, and by her father who broke that first engagement and promised her to Achille’s son as a woman. She says it herself in the poem: as a woman, she doesn’t have a lot of power. For me, the poem is about her reclaiming some sense of ownership over her life and her choices. Yes, she has to request action from a man, but the letter she writes to Orestes is where her agency lies - her words are her weapon. This is a recurring motif in literature, from Ovid’s poem to medieval lais to Shakespeare’s plays, and as a literature nerd it’s something I find fascinating.

Taylor Carmen: Ariadne stood out because there is a quiet ferocity to her I read in Ovid’s text, yet the portrayal of her in so many other artworks is helpless; a woman resolved to her doom. I wanted to see how far I could turn her intensity up. This is a woman who fled everything she knew for a man who, at the first chance he could, abandons her. I wanted to give her an opportunity to be messy and rageful. What happens when a woman forced to hold it together her entire life is truly alone for once? What would she say facing down death at the hands of her lover?

Natalie Haven: I wasn’t aware of Phyllis’ myth before this project, and when I read it, I immediately wanted to know what was in the box. I wondered if I could explore this idea in a way that would satisfy and surprise an audience. I wasn’t sure I could. But Phyllis must have, if what she put in there had such an effect on Demophon... It felt exciting, intimidating, and appropriate to meet that challenge.

These characters originate from ancient myths, but how do you want the production to speak to contemporary audiences?

Liz Kent: Family or love is a decision that we make in contemporary day all the time- from your parents vs. romantic love, home vs. exploring the unknown, what you’ve been raised to be vs. who you discover you are. While there are, of course, elements that I hope no one can relate to, the core discovery of yourself and your wants are how we come into ourselves.

Isabelle Dickey: Learning to cope with loneliness and expectations for your life are universal experiences. While the setting is ancient Greece, the piece is ultimately about one woman’s journey for happiness which I would hope speaks to audiences of all time periods.

Sarah Knoepfli: I think ancient myths have always spoken to modern audiences to be honest. You only have to look at the very very recent example that is the new adaptation of The Odyssey by Christopher Nolan. These millenia-old myths touch on themes that every human being knows and goes through, and for that reason I think they’re immortal. In a way, it makes our job as writers/performers easier, because you don’t need to force modern themes into these stories, they already are relevant.

Taylor Carmen: There’s an intensifying pressure right now to shrink ourselves down – both literally and emotionally. This is not new, but it does feel like certain elements of society are trying to rewind progress. I hope this piece inspires resistance. I’ve gotten to explore the fullness of my humanity through Ariadne, discovering a wild energy that is so easily stifled by a world telling me to be “less”. I reject that, and hope anyone in the audience walks away with the same sense of freedom.

Sam Bampoe-Parry: We often feel that the heightened nature of ancient Greek myths is far from our day-to-day lives, when I find that there are heightened situations happening all around us which mirror the ancient Greek myths. Through this production, I hope that contemporary audiences can find a connection to the heightened language whilst seeing how it’s not too far off from some elements of their own lives.

Natalie Haven: Every time a classic story is reinterpreted, it is because someone saw some human experience they recognise reflected in that tale. I hope that simply the act of reinterpretation leads the audience to consider what each of us saw in these stories, and begin to wonder what speaks to them.

Do you explore any modern ideas or experiences through your pieces?

Liz Kent: Picture the bridal suite in the most expensive venue you can imagine; white roses everywhere, a wedding of the century newspaper headline, and the pastels and sticky heat of the American South. Based on my own history as a sorority woman in North Carolina, the mega-church based, rule- following family values from the American South are blended with the family duty and honor of the Greek myth.

Isabelle Dickey: Yes absolutely. This is, at its core, a story of loneliness and desperation with also some exploration of taboo. These are all still very relevant concepts and I hope this story will feel more relatable than expected.

Sarah Knoepfli: My piece turned into something very modern, yes. But that also stems from the myth and more particularly from Ovid’s poem. Hermione’s story is not the most well-known, and one thing I discovered while researching the poem itself is that Ovid is one of the rare authors who is sympathetic to Hermione’s cause. Most of the others (the most prominent example being Euripides and his Andromache) portray her as a jealous, power-hungry, manipulative woman who causes death and pain around her because of her selfishness. That immediately reminded me of how women in the public eye are treated, and how the narrative is often spun to their detriment.

Taylor Carmen: Any story about a woman being betrayed by a man with zero explanation is bound to feel modern. Guilt for what you could’ve done differently, doubt about your self-worth, hope for an easy solution to get him back, all this and more exist in my world. Even though it’s still set in an ancient time, this piece lives next to the modern stories of heartbreak where a woman is left blaming herself for the faults of a man.

Natalie Haven: My piece is mostly set in antiquity, but not strictly. It’s a bit flexible, a bit out-of-time. Horror is by no means modern, but I took inspiration from some modern horror favourites of mine!

Monologues foster a uniquely intimate relationship between performer and audience. What do you enjoy about this format and what unique storytelling opportunities does it offer?

Liz Kent: I am a Shakespeare lover and adore a soliloquy- I love seeing what a character has to say when they are able to steal away for a moment of honesty.

Isabelle Dickey: I love how it allows you to explore the most inner thoughts of a character. It gives your character the chance to externalize their thoughts and feelings in a way they’d never get to otherwise. I also love how it gives you the chance to interact directly with the audience, and build a relationship with them.

Sarah Knoepfli: Monologues are deeply anchored in the present moment because the audience becomes your scene partners, and you can never really predict how they’re going to react (or if they react at all). It means that as a performer, you have to play with them and not just “to” them.

Taylor Carmen: There’s an increased demand for imagination with monologues that always excites me. Both audience and performer have to enter an unspoken agreement: we both know I’m up here alone, but let’s really explore this make-believe world and see what happens. I think when audiences dive into that sense of play with an actor, there’s a wonderful, vulnerable exchange of trust between strangers that rarely happens elsewhere.

Natalie Haven: Monologues sit somewhere between dialogue and narration. They offer perhaps the widest range of opportunities for connection and play with the audience because they can borrow from both, and are limited by neither.

Sam Bampoe-Parry: The intimate environment created by a monologue is a space where I often find myself amazed for what it does for the character and the audience. It demands that you’re present, which applies to both audience and actor. I enjoy that space as an actor where you allow yourself to be seen fully as the character and you can’t hide away. (unless the character is doing so.)

The anthology explores agency, womanhood and morality through six very different voices. What themes emerged most strongly for you while creating your piece?

Liz Kent: Truly, all 3 are embedded into her story. She is on a journey to discover her own morals, and is in early stages of questioning what “womanhood” asks of you in a patriarchal system, as she pushes to claim her own agency for the first time in her life.

Isabelle Dickey: Probably all three but primarily agency. This is a story of a young woman dealing with the consequences of taking agency of her life in the only way she knows how.

Sarah Knoepfli: All three, honestly. But I also think that’s because they come together anyway. If you want to talk about womanhood, then the questions of agency and morality come tied with it in a way. Because we still live in a patriarchal society that constantly questions and sometimes still wants to rob women of their agency (over their lives or their bodies), and women will always be held to higher standards of morality - or at least will be judged more harshly when they deviate from them.

Taylor Carmen: Agency really leaps out in Ariadne’s journey, supported by these other two themes. Stranded on an island, she’s able to live in her own skin and ask, for the first time, if the decisions she’s made throughout her life were truly her own.

Natalie Haven: All three influence my overall piece, but my Phyllis, as a character, pursues agency above all else. She has some knowledge outside of time, and is conscious of the limitations of her own myth, so where she does have influence, she takes it to extremes.

What has been the most rewarding or perhaps the most challenging part of bringing your heroine from the page to the stage?

Liz Kent: I am a very new writer, having written one other monologue like this before. Most challenging AND most rewarding has been finding my voice as a writer (and working on getting over the fear of being cringe).

Isabelle Dickey: There are many parts of my character's story that are impossible for me to relate to, and some decisions that my character makes that I would never even fathom, so I definitely struggled at first with how to approach this character. I wanted to find a way to bring her to life and make her someone people could connect to without necessarily justifying her actions. Additionally I wanted to acknowledge the weight of what she's gone through without writing her as someone that things just happen to. It was certainly a challenge but I'm very proud of how I've been able to develop Canace and tell her story in a way that feels human and complex.

Sarah Knoepfli: I think keeping the monologue active was the most challenging part for me. I’m always scared I’m gonna fall into the “Ted Talk” trap when writing or performing a monologue, and one thing I knew I did not want was for my piece to become a lecture. I have my director Kay Brattan to thank for guiding me in this process and helping me avoid the pitfalls, and the most rewarding part for me was realising that just because I wrote something with a certain tone in mind doesn’t mean that it can’t be turned on its head and give a totally new vibe.

Taylor Carmen: Balancing my own interpretation of this character with the original myth has definitely been a challenge. While I wanted to honour the story that survived for this many centuries, I also needed to give myself permission to make Ariadne three-dimensional, and with that comes certain storytelling elements that true mythology buffs may call inaccurate. But that was never my goal, my goal was to see where my modern self meets this ancient woman’s myth, and watch how these two can intertwine.

Natalie Haven: I find it a challenge to wear both the writing and acting hats. I want to keep tweaking and tweaking and tweaking the writing, but at a certain point I need to let it be!

Many of these mythological women have historically been reduced to symbols or cautionary tales. Did working on this production change the way you think about your character?

Liz Kent: Overall, Hypermnestra is viewed as this figure of purity and courage because she spares her husband. She, as this symbol, is still viewed in her relation to men- her husband or her father- so I wanted to think of her as her own person with a choice to make for herself and let her have her own agency.

Isabelle Dickey: Canace was a character I had never heard of before but first reading her story definitely felt like a cautionary tale. I think the main thing for me was wanting to build her into a fully realized human, deeply flawed but also coping with a life that left her feeling like she had no other choice.

Sarah Knoepfli: It is true that the version of Hermione that I was the most familiar with was the one that appears in Andromache, in which she’s obviously the jealous rival - not a very flattering portrait, and not one that you necessarily empathise with. So hearing and exploring her side ofthe story, and the different ways her story has been woven (because of course, we’re talking about Greek myths for which there’s often five different versions that exist) definitely made me look at her with new eyes.

Taylor Carmen: Ariadne’s aesthetic representation in the fine arts has always been quite somber, timid, still. For all the twists and tragedy within her story, it seemed people wanted to remember her as this speechless, helpless girl. But this piece has really made me step back and question any representation of Ariadne that captures her as forlorn. When I connect to this character, all I can feel is rage for her. Now that I’ve written a version full of fiery energy, I can’t see her as anything but a passionate woman summoning a storm.

Natalie Haven: I wasn't aware of Phyllis at all before this project, and that has actually been really fun in and of itself. To work from a first impression, and not have to untangle any preconceptions. Or course, Phyllis' myth touches on themes and situations I have many strong feelings about, but I got to discover who she, herself, is/was in real time.

What do you hope audiences discover about these characters that they might not have expected?

Liz Kent: While her set circumstances are mythical, be it in prophecies or a ridiculous number of siblings, I hope this lets the audience see the difficulty in a decision like hers, and that sometimes being courageous comes with deep grief.

Isabelle Dickey: That you can empathize with a character even when you strongly disagree with her decisions.

Sarah Knoepfli: I’ve taken Hermione quite far away from the original circumstances of her myth, but I hope that people can recognise that the way women are sometimes being treated today is not so far from the way these heroines were treated by the men of their lives, or indeed by the authors that would relate their stories throughout history. There’s something strikingly similar in the way Hermione is judged for her choices and the way some women are judged for theirs today, when those choices are rooted in a justified reclaiming of their agency, or even very often in simple survival.

Taylor Carmen: Since the ending of Ariadne’s mythology already ends with differing opinions, I hope audiences see this and walk away with a new version of her ending, one that isn’t decided by man or gods, but rather one she claims for herself.

Sam Bampoe-Perry: I hope that the audience can discover new things about these characters, for example Sappho’s relationship to Phaon. I feel like her journey is something that a lot of people would be able to resonate with.

Natalie Haven: Because so little is definitive in Phyllis’ myth, and often we connect best with specificity, I think Phyllis is sometimes at risk of being overlooked. I hope that the audience comes to consider her instead as a figure of many possibilities.

What would you like audiences to take away from your monologue?

Liz Kent: We are always making choices between our history and our future, family and love, home and adventure. Neither is right or wrong, as long as it comes from you.

Isabelle Dickey: The main thing I want people to take away is that people are complicated and messy, and that you can feel for someone and want to understand them without agreeing with all the decisions they've made.

Sarah Knoepfli: I would love it if people could come away with a new perspective on how some women are treated, and especially women who grew up or live in the public eye. I think it would be healthy to reconsider what we expect from the people who lead a public life and if the moral standards we hold them to are always fair.

Taylor Carmen: Others will try to minimize your power. Don’t let them.

Natalie Haven: I hope their curiosity is piqued!

What are your ambitions both for Mythic Bodies beyond this run and for your own individual artistic careers?

Liz Kent: I would love to continue this project in its current form, and potentially expand it into a one person show. There’s definitely not enough plays about the mega-church, marriage-focused, “ring by spring” world I grew up in, and would love to play with the joy of that culture that is bound in its expectations.

Isabelle Dickey: I would love to see Mythic Bodies develop further into a more expanded production. This has been a fairly accelerated process, so I would love to see what it could grow into with even more time. As an actor it is always a gift to act, but it is truly so special to get to explore such a complex character, especially as a ten minute monologue, and I look forward to seeing how I can rise to the challenge.

Sarah Knoepfli: It would be great to have another run of this project, and see what it could turn into if we give it a bit more time to breathe and grow. I also discovered some interesting things about myself as a writer and a performer in how quickly the project came to be, because it leaves very little space for overthinking and it forces you to go into the playfulness aspect of it. And of course, it was such a joy to collaborate and come together with such a great team of people, and I would love to see where this project could take us all.

Taylor Carmen: Mythic Bodies would be a joy to expand into a format we can move around, taking it to schools or arts programs and exploring classical text in a way that makes it feel active and modern.

Natalie Haven: I would love to continue developing Mythic Bodies. It’s a fantastic team to work with. There’s no more valuable stress test for a piece than performance. Even if you learn what didn’t work, it can be fantastic fuel for the creative fire. So I hope we all feel a sense of momentum after this performance, and I’m excited to see where that could take us.

Sam Bampoe-Parry: I was excited to step into the world of Mythic Bodies as the last time that I performed something from the Greek Tragedy genre was back in my first year of drama school. It’s a genre that I don’t regularly get to explore, so I’m excited to delve back into this world!