Like many subjects Jamie and I enjoyed in high school, the study of Greek mythology seems to have fallen by the wayside in modern classrooms. Sad, really, as their characters and plots are such rich fodder which provide timeless lessons about love, life and humility. While it is
easy enough to incorporate contemporary spins into a storyline (i.e., cell phones, laptops, energy drinks, social media), we recognized two cumbersome elephants in the room which would clearly not resonate with today's audiences, most especially females. The first was the
issue of Hades abducting and raping Persephone in order to hold her hostage in an Underworld guarded by his three-headed dog, Cerberus. The second was the macho persona popularly embraced by many of the Greek gods as a way to teach mortals that women (even
goddesses) were the lesser sex. Our own approach in updating the plot involved both the introduction of a zealous PR firm commissioned to maintain Haydn's image as a tough guy and Cora's revelation that she herself had orchestrated their "chance"; meeting from the start
because she saw the sweet, vulnerable side he tried so desperately to keep hidden. Even those unfamiliar with the source material from which we derived our own play can enjoy Haydn and Cora's sparring as a snapshot of any modern marriage in which the more frequently a lie
is repeated, the more it becomes real.

Christina Hamlett and Jamie Dare, Playwrights