Monday, July 24, 2006

The Sphynx

right here is the thing:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/opportunity/sphinx.shtml
So my play is entitled "Mermaids and Drowning Women" and my characters are Kirsten Pfaff, Ophelia and The Little Mermaid.
Thngs to bear in mind:
1) the mermaid gave up her tounge so she could be with the prince and he still didnt want her
2) mermaid also had difficulties walking
3) ophelia went doolally due to Hamlets spurning of her
4) check out the Millias painting of Ophelia and the story behind Elizabeth Siddal
5) Pfaff was a talented musicion but she was also a junkie
6) Pfaff went out with Eric Edlanson who also went out with Courtney Love and Drew Barrymore
7) Pfaff has (little) biography availiable
8) Pfaff was eventually replaced by Melissa Auf Der Maur.

So in a Jean rhys way I am writing about women as the underdog (again) and certain evils that send the women off the deep end

SYMBOLISM
1) the mermaid is the only one out of them who can swim
2) mermaid is also the only one with a "happy" ending as she gains a soul.

Should I set this in "middle time" where there are "doors to the worlds of the women? or should it be in a contempory setting?
Perhaps best to look at the first scene of Top Girls by Caryl Churchill.

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