"The latest incarnation of Oedipus, the continued romance of Beauty and The Beast, stands this afternoon on the corner of 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue, waiting for the traffic light to change."

~from The Hero With a Thousand Faces
by Joseph Campbell

Myth has just returned from a two-week development process at the 2008 O'Neill Theater Conference where John was awarded the Georgia Holof Award for Lyric writing.

Myth

by John Mercurio

MYTH is a contemporary riff on three Greek myths set in present-day New York City. Orin (Orpheus) is a bored rock star; Ella (King Midas) is a frustrated housewife; and Jay (Phaethon) is a cynical teenager. They take off to find the one thing they want most of all – love, career and family, respectively. By the end of the first act, not only have they each found then lost their heart’s desire, they end up worse off than when they started.

Eventually their trip leads them to a suspicious basement, (a kind-of psychedelic playground of the mind) where they come to realize just how inextricably linked their lives are and only by working together can they finally find what they're after. Inspired by Joseph Campbell’s archetype of the hero’s journey, MYTH explores the symbolic life that surrounds us always, keeping us connected to something bigger than ourselves.

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