The Love of the Nightingale

by Timberlake Wertenbaker

Audition Date: Wednesday, September 11th, 6:45pm

To Prepare: 1) Read the Play 2) Read this packet
3) Prepare a one-minute monologue accordingly.
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This Packet. This audition packet is meant to provide actors with

some preliminary information about the play as they prepare for their
audition. It is intended as a supplement to reading Timberlake
Wetenbaker’s script in its entirety, not a replacement. In other words:
Read the play in its entirety. An attachment for the full script PDF is
in the same email that contained this packet.

Make sure to read through the different character breakdowns and give
careful consideration as to what sort of monologue might showcase your
ability to embody one of them. Do you relate to the early playfulness of
Philomele? Her later defiance? Do you respond to the Niobe’s jaded
resignation that there is terrible injustice in the world? What sort of
monologue might communicate Tereus’s entitlement? What of Procne’s
feelings of isolation when she goes to live in a foreign environment with
an unfamiliar husband? Perhaps you enjoy the poetic commentary of the
chorus. There are many ways to go, but consider the tone of the play and
the emotional requirements of the characters.

The Plot and its Sources. Let’s not mince words, Philomele is

a horrifying myth; so horrifying that we need to ask ourselves why we

would continue to tell it thousands of year since Sophocles presented a
play based on it at the festival Dionsyia in the 5th century B.C.E. Like
many Greek tragedies, the story of Philomele, Tereus, Procne, and Itys is
a cautionary one. Only fragments of Sophocles’s play survive, but the
story would later be popularized in Book VI (400-674) of Ovid’s
Metamorphosis after Rome supplanted Greece as the preliminary power in the
ancient Mediterranean world. Ovid’s version follows two princesses of
Athens, Procne and Philomele. Their father, King Pandion, allies with King
Tereus of Thrace in order to help Athens in a military conflict. King
Pandion marries his older daughter, Procne, to Tereus to reward him for
his valor in battle. Lonely and isolated in an unfamiliar land, Procne
sends Tereus to retrieve her beloved younger sister who has promised to
always come to her when called. Tereus is consumed with an all-consuming
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passion upon seeing Philomele in Athens. On the journey back to Thrace he
watches her like prey. Once they make land Tereus locks her away in a
secluded tower. There, Tereus brutally assaults Philomele and cuts out her
tongue when she threatens to expose him as a kidnapper and rapist. Tereus
returns to Thrace and tells Procne that Philomele has died. Years pass and
Philomele spends her time in captivity weaving a tapestry that depicts the
terrible ways in which Tereus has violated her. She manages to have the
tapestry secretly sent to her sister. Procne immediately recognizes it as
Philomele’s work and understands its meaning. In Ovid’s version, Procne
liberates her sister and the two kill Procne and Tereus’s son Itys as
retribution for his father’s crimes. When Tereus discovers what his wife
and her sister have done, he pursues them, but they are turned into birds;
Procne a swallow, Philomele a nightingale, and Tereus a Hoopoe.

(The Rape of Philomela by Tereus, Engraved by Virgil Solis,

1562 translation of the Metamorphoses)

Wertenbaker’s play largely follows Ovid’s, but instead of a tapestry,

Philomele creates life-sized dolls in order to act out Theseus’s crimes
against her. Wertenbaker also borrows the mechanism of the chorus to bear
witness and provide commentary as this excessively violent story
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progresses towards its predetermined conclusion. Wertenbaker’s largest
departure from the Metamorphosis lies in the fact that Procne and
Philomele are not merely accessories in a story about a powerful man who
brings about his own downfall. The relationship between sisters is
centralized and their distinct personalities are developed prior to
Tereus’s arrival into their lives. The ancient Greeks used tragedy to play
out their worst nightmares and while they often feature complex female
characters, one has to remember that these were plays written by men, for
men, and performed exclusively by men in a highly patriarchal society.
Wertenbaker makes her focus more equitable. This is not to say that the
story is any more palatable.

(490, Attic wine cup, Procne and Philomela prepare to kill Ithys)

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 Much like Medea, Nightingale is a revenge tragedy. In this genre a
violent crime is committed that cannot be appropriately redressed because
the perpetrator occupies a position of power. For instance, in
Shakespeare’s later revenge tragedy, Hamlet cannot accuse Claudius of
murder without evidence because Claudius is now the king. The
disenfranchised victim takes justice into their own hands and often
becomes a monster in the process. Their revenge is excessive in that it
harms not just the guilty party, but innocents suffer as collateral
damage. In this case Itys is horrifically murdered by his mother and aunt.

(Tereus confronted with the head of Son Ithys, Oil, Paul Rubens 1636-1638)

In short, the audience experiences shock and horror as the original

victim becomes the victimizer. Aristotle states that most Greek tragedies
center around some kind of “agon,” an argument or a thesis. Ancient Plays
like Medea, Antigone, and early modern ones like Hamlet and Titus
Andronicus collectively make a statement about violence begetting
violence; about the dangers of robbing someone of their humanity so
completely that they respond in an inhuman way. The cautionary thesis of
many revenge plays seems to be the same: when you rip away someone’s

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agency, when you violate them and rob them of their voice, terrible things
happen. The plays in no way celebrate the revenge trajectory, rather they
caution against lawless, vigilante justice and the chaos that the abuse of
power incites.

(The Rape of Philomela by Tereus

Engraving, Johann Wilhelm Baur, 1703 edition of the Metamorphoses)

Character Breakdown:

Philomele: Philomele begins the play as a young and naïve princess of

Athens. She is the energetically positive and somewhat irreverent younger
sister to the more reserved Procne. While Procne is cautious and well
respected, Philomele says what is on her mind without always thinking of
the consequences. She is incredibly excited about all of that waits for
her as she embarks on her adult life, especially love and sex. She is also
infallibly loyal. Philomele promises her older sister that she will come
to her whenever she is called and makes no hesitation to undertake a
treacherous sea voyage to an unfamiliar land when her brother-in-law,
Tereus comes to fetch her at Procne’s behest. Philomele is idealistic, and
as a princess of Athens, a little bit entitled. She trusts that things
will turn out right for her and that people will do what is right. This
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makes her tragedy all the more devastating. She suffers a horrible fate,
but she does not cower when faced with her attacker even when it results
in further assault and violence. Philomele refuses to be a victim. Even
when her tongue is removed and she is hidden away, she finds a way to
speak her truth. She ultimately acts as her own avenger in a ruthless and
violent way.

Procne. Philomele states at one point that the Athenians admired Procne
because of her dignity. At the onset of the play, Procne appears far more
measured and cautious than her younger sister. She often reaches towards
logic rather than emotion to solve her problems. She is the serious
sister. While her younger sister cannot wait to experience sex and
marriage, Procne seems to regard it as a duty; a necessary evil. Once in
Thrace, she performs her role as a wife to Tereus in a perfunctory way,
but she feels utterly isolated. She fails to assimilate and cannot find
common ground with her women attendants. In perhaps a selfish act, she
sends for her sister. Like Philomele, Procne strongly belongs in right and
wrong and has little tolerance for ambiguity and deceit.

Tereus: Tereus is the King of Thrace. He is a soldier, general, and

absolute ruler. His men obey him without question and is used to getting
what he wants whether it be through strategy and stealth or outright
physical strength. He considers himself a good guy and is proficient at
coming up with reasons that defend his choices. In some mythological
variants, Tereus is son of the war god Ares and a Naiad named Bistonis,
which may explain (but not justify) his proclivity to violence. (There is
a difference between Ares- more associated with berserker rage in combat
and Athena- more associated with military strategy in the Greek pantheon).

Niobe: Niobe functions as Philomele’s chaperone once she embarks on her

journey to Thrace. She is described as an old woman and is often the
source of ridicule and entertainment amongst the sailors. She has seen
much in the world, most or it tragic. We later learn that she too has been
the victim of horrific violence. She had many sisters before her village
was destroyed, its men killed and its women enslaved. When she seems

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somewhat unsympathetic to Philomele later, one must also consider that she
is likely a slave to the Athenian royal family, a victim of imperialism
and violence in her own right. This has left her oddly resigned to what
she would classify as the ways of the world; the strong will take what
they want from the weak and it is better not too fight back lest you
further provoke your attacker. She can seem oddly cold and matter of fact.
The name “Niobe” references a mythological character who boasted to Leto,
the mother of Artemis and Apollo about having fourteen children. In
retribution for her hubris, Artemis and Apollo killed all of Niobe’s
children. Niobe fled and turned to stone, but her statue weeps
incessantly.

The Captain: The captain is honest and unassuming. He is a man of few

words but great integrity. He has a job to do and he is wary of
overstepping his professional role. He resists Philomele’s advances in the
interest of his duty and lower rank, but he is not unaffected by her. Much
like “the Queen,” the captain is one of the only major figures who remains
nameless.

Itys: The only son of Tereus and Procne. The play states that five years
pass before Procne sends for Philomele, and then another five years pass
after Tereus tells Procne that her sister has died. Therefore, when we see
Itys, he is roughly intended to be about ten years old. He admires all
things considered “masculine.” He is drawn towards weapons and fighting.
When his mother states that he would have liked his aunt Philomele, he
responds that he has strong uncles. It cannot be overstated though, that
he is still a child and is largely innocent. He is merely parroting the
social conventions of the world around him, toxic though they may be.

Chorus: The rest of the roles pull from the male and female chorus. They
make up the actors in the Hippolytus play, Procne’s ladies in waiting,
Bacchants, Sailors, and Soldiers. They are largely present on stage to
witness and comment on the action. They speak directly to the audience.
Their role is also highly physical; the Greek Chorus did not just stand

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still and orate. Rather, they danced and performed acrobatics to aid in
the telling of the story. We will be incorporating a great deal of
physicality as well. Much like the character of Niobe, the names of the
female chorus reference other Greek myths. Many of them have tragic
trajectories. This is not to say that they ARE these characters, but
Wertenbaker is referencing them for a reason. See below for the plot of
Hippolytus.

Female Chorus:

Hero/Phaedra (in Hippolytus play): Hero was a priestess of Aphrodite who

dwealt in a remote tower in Sestos. A young man named Leander from Abydos
fell in love with her and swam to her tower every night. Hero would light
a lamp every night to guide his way. He eventually convinced her to sleep
with him on the grounds that Aphrodite was the goddess of love and sex.
Soon after Leander drowns at sea and Hero leaps to her death upon seeing
his body.

Iris/Aphrodite (in Hippolytus play): According to Hesiod’s Theogony, Iris

was the goddess of the rainbow and a messenger of the Olympian gods. She
is often described as the personal messenger of Hera. Iris’s father was
Thaumas a marine god, and Elektra, an Oceanid nymph. As a goddess
associated with both the sea and the sky, she is said to link the gods to
humanity.

June/The Queen: June may be in reference to “Juno,” the Roman version of

Hera. Although Hera gets portrayed negatively as the nag, who vicariously
punishes other women for being the objects of her husband Zeus’s desire,
her earlier role is far more sympathetic: she is the goddess of marriage,
family, and childbirth. In Roman mythology Juno was the protector and
special counselor of the state. Like, the captain, The Queen is never
named. Despite this, she shows herself to be astute, intelligent, and an
excellent judge of character. She sees through Tereus’s diplomatic double
speak, and observes that he wants their daughter Procne in return for his
military aid before he states his intention. She is wary of sending

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Philomele away with Tereus as well. In Greek mythology, Pandion wife and
the mother of Procne and Philpmele was a nymph named Zeuxippe. The name
means, “she who yokes horses.”

Helen/Nurse (in Hippolytus Play): Helen is most commonly known as the

catalyst for the Trojan war in Homer’s The Illiad. She was the daughter of
Zeus by Leda (who Zeus ravaged in the form of a swan) and half-sister to
Clytemnestra. Helen was wife to Menelaus, king of Sparta. She was abducted
by Paris, a Prince of Troy, after Aphrodite promised Helen to him for
judging her the winner in a beauty pageant between herself, Hera, and
Athena. This beauty pageant, known as the “Judgement of Paris” is regarded
as one of the precipitating events of the Trojan War. After Paris is
killed, Helen is reunited with Menelaus. The various accounts of Helen are
contradictory as to whether she went with Paris willingly or whether she
was abducted.

Echo/Servant (in Hippolytus Play): Echo was a Mountain nymph who resided
on Mount Cithaeron. According to Ovid, Echo, who was commanded to protect
Zeus, would distract his jealous wife with lengthy conversations while
Zeus was pursuing his many extramarital affairs. Upon realizing this
tactic, Hera cursed Echo by making her only able to repeat the last thing
said to her. Echo eventually fell in love with Narcissus, but unable to
communicate with him, he rejected her and was forced to watch as he fell
in love with his own reflection. In another version Echo was a mortal
raised amongst nymphs and taught music by the Muses. Pan was attracted to
Echo, but she rejected him. He became jealous of her musical talents and
angry that she would not yield her virginity, so he drove the men of the
fields mad, causing them to rip Echo apart, scattering the still singing
fragments of her body across the earth. The earth goddess Gaia, hid the
remnants of Echo’s body with herself (the earth).

Male Chorus
King Pandion: Pandion appears to be caught between his role as a
statesman, charged with maintaining the peace, and that of a father
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reluctant to part with his daughters and thrust them into precarious
situations. He is cultured and measured. He states that plays help him to
think. According to the Bibliotecha (a three-book compendium of Greek
myths and heroic legends dated from somewhere between the 1st and 3rd
centuries A.D.), King Pandion I of Athens fought a war with King Labdacus
of Thebes over boundaries. He married his daughter to Tereus of Thrace in
exchange for his help in the fighting. King Pandion is said to have died
of grief when he discovered that his daughters had died.

1st Soldier: At times, the first and second soldiers act as

personifications of toxic masculinity.

2nd Soldier/Theseus (in Hippolytus Play): See 1st Soldier.

Hippolytus (in Hippolytus Play): Generally remembered as a tragic figure

who is punished by the goddess Aphrodite for his youthful arrogance in
failing to acknowledge and revere her as a goddess. By extension, he shuns
all the Aphrodite represents— sexual desire and reproduction. His rant
against women in Euripides’s play is very famous. He is the son of the
amazon Hippolyta and the Greek hero Theseus. Despite his hubris, he is
still shown to be somewhat sympathetic in that he forgives his father and
reconciles with him just before his death. After his death, the goddess
Artemis transforms him into a constellation in the heavens. She also vows
to destroy one of Aphrodite’s favorites as recompense.
______________________________________________________________________

Plot of Hippolytus. Phaedra was a princess of Crete and second wife

of the hero Theseus. She was the daughter of King Minos and Pasiphae,
sister to Ariadne, and half-sister to the Minotaur. Hippolytus is the son
of Theseus and his first wife, the Amazon Hippolyta. In Euripides’ play
Hippolytus scorns the goddess Aphrodite because he wishes to exclusively
worship Artemis, the virgin goddess of the hunt. Aphrodite responds by
making Hippolytus’s step mother, Phaedra, become sick with desire for him.
Phaedra resists but confides in a nurse who tells Hippolytus despite being
sworn to secrecy. Hippolytus goes on a famous misogynistic rant about how

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much he hates women and how disgusting Phaedra is. Mortified, Phaedra
kills herself, but leaves a suicide note claiming that Hippolytus raped
her. Theseus returns, reads the note, and banishes Hippolytus. He also
calls in a favor from the god Poseiden to curse his son. Hippolytus is
mortally wounded as a result, but he manages to reconcile with his father
before he dies.

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