Sappho Said It Best

By Hailey Scott
Big Ideas
★ Longing
★ Denial
★ Queer desire
★ Jealousy

Key Words

★ Drowning
★ Suffocation
★ Tenderness
Character(s)
★ Phaedra’s Nurse, now called Natalie
○ A closeted wlw in love with her best friend
Phaedra, now called Faye
Time
★ Takes place in the gaps of Euripedes’s version
★ Whenever the Nurse is not onstage in Hippolytus, Natalie is onstage in this
show
Language
★ All monologues by Natalie
★ Modern language, changed names
★ Pulled quotes from Euripides when appropriate
Plot
★ First scene:
○ Introduction of given circumstances: Natalie has also been cursed by Aphrodite, and is in love
with Faye.
○ “It’s a heavy burden when one soul suffers for two as I’m agonizing over this woman”
■ (Barely any water on the floor)
★ Second scene:
○ After the scene in Hippolytus where Phaedra is brought outside and is inconsolable
○ Natalie first is hopeful that Faye’s secret love is for her
○ Natalie feels awful and stupid when she finds out Faye is in love with Hippolytus, now called
Hunter
○ Love feels like “pleasure...but also pain at the same time.”
■ (A few inches of water, up to mid calf probably)
Plot
★ Third Scene
○ Natalie becomes overwhelmed with shame and jealousy
○ She gives in to her selfishness and decides to tell Hunter how Faye feels about him
○ She thinks it will convince Faye to give up on Hunter
■ (water up to hip level)
★ Fourth Scene
○ After Faye completes suicide
○ Oh god it’s all falling apart
○ Natalie is devastated by the loss of her friend but also by the idea that what they had wasn’t
worth living for
■ (water up to shoulders)
Plot
★ (Potential) Fifth Scene
○ Natalie tears apart the set, or drowns depending on the set
Space
★ Small, confined
★ But not claustrophobic
Inspired by Jee Young Lee
Songs