Avenging Arachne: A Nemesister Fable
by Alicia Lynn Grega
Inspired by the ancient Greek myth about the skilled weaver punished by Athena for her irreverent pride, this contemporary tale finds an ambitious advertising creative challenged by her powerful mentor.
The miracle of its web has placed the spider at the center of creativity myths from Egypt and Africa, to Japan, pre-colonial North and South America, India, and Greece. It is a Greek myth about the gifted weaver Arachne, transformed into a spider by the goddess Athena, which has inspired the new play by Scranton artist Alicia Grega.
Avenging Arachne: a Nemesister Fable is not set in that ancient world, however, but in the modern ...fictional metropolis of New Lydia. In it, ambitious designer, Arachne Ogletree is hired to work for the Valburg Agency by her Oprah-level idol Athena Valburg, only to find creative innovation the least of her job’s challenges. Will her relationship with the too-good-to-be-true Nico Ambrosia survive her success? Can she trust Athena’s charming, but elusive, assistant Bradley Noone? Is she a workaholic? Is she an alcoholic? Who does she really want to be?
A chorus of three women – Charity, Hope, and Grace - comments on the play as it evolves while also portraying the members of Arachne’s Stitch ‘n Bitch group (stitchnbitch.org), restaurant waiters, corporate clients, etc. In applying Arachne’s story to the climate of contemporary America, Grega challenges our notions of creativity, gender, and power, juxtaposing corporate culture with the “handmade rebellion.
A free public reading of the first draft was presented on Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at The Olde Brick Theatre in Scranton at 7 p.m. under the direction of Sarah Stachura Regan. See and/or download the promo photos via Flickr:
Cast of the May 18, 2010 reading includes: Timothy McDermott, Tonyehn Verkitus, Roya Fahmy, Katie Bower, Stephen Pauley, and Laura McGowan. (Not pictured, Patti Purcell.)