Of all the many stories I’ve wanted to tell, LOOM is perhaps the one that took the longest to make it out of my brain and onto the stage.
From a young age Greek myth held a great hold on me, particularly the stories that centered around women. I wanted to join Artemis in the hunt, I wanted to know what exactly Daphne felt in the moment she shed her skin for bark, I wanted to hear Cassandra’s inner anguish as she watched the Greeks breach the walls of Troy.
In college I was delighted to learn that one could in fact study myth for credit. I graduated with enough credits for a double major in English and Classics.
It was in college that I first conceived of the idea that would eventually become LOOM. I became particularly fascinated with the story of Orpheus—how much it revolved around Eurydice, how little of her exists on the page. The very first theatrical show my college circus club put on in fact, was this very story, suggested by yours truly. Our lighting was either house lights or darkness split only by a large flashlight we used as a spot. The Greek Chorus I wanted never came into fruition, nor did the budget for anything resembling costumes, nor Eurydice’s voice. I played Eurydice and I died early, beautifully, and with great pathos.
I went on to study ancient Greece and women’s place in it with several truly great and formative professors. I saw an excellent rendition of Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses. I went to an intimate senior project that focused on Greek women in myth which I remember little of now except how visceral and bold it was.
A lot of years elapsed between then and LOOM.
In LOOM I wanted to ask the questions I’d been wondering for years. I wanted, finally, to hear Eurydice’s story, in her own words.
Using the story of Eurydice as a narrative frame, in LOOM stories are shaped and re-shaped as the Fates weave an original tapestry on a floating, circular frame. A warrior maiden, a trickster trapped in a loop of perception, and a prophet whom none believe—these stories and more are woven throughout the fabric of LOOM. LOOM brings to stage myth and folklore both well-worn and obscure through movement and poetry.
LOOM debuted in Northampton, MA in 2019.