 |
| Click to go to Three Furies Blog |
When I was commissioned by UK Arts International and the British Council to create a Spoken Word piece with Dutch MC Clara Opoku and South African poet Mbali Vilakazi, I was concerned about Travelling Light because I was raw from coming out of three serious family situations - a bad patch with my Mum (we hadn't spoken for months), my Grandpa had passed at the ripe old age of 96, and my Grandma had fallen seriously ill and had been in hospital for about 2 months. It couldn't be any worse for the development of an autobiographical show about 3 generations of women. It was not a time for questions about their past lives when they were just managing to hold on to the present ones.
As I held it together, I realised that I was angry about a lot of things - that I had been neglecting to exercise and exorcise my feelings about my fraught mother/daughter relationship and about not having the time I wanted to spend with my newly found family, especially my Grandma, due to a hectic and demanding freelance artist workload. I had also not had any time to reflect on my new identity as Niece to my Aunts and Uncles and Auntie to my nieces and nephews now that I had found them. My head hurt getting frustrated about it.
The story of the Three Furies or the Erinnyes (The Kindly Ones) is an enlightening dramatic inquiry of Ancient Greek mythology into Justice, Humanity and Transformation as these daemons/Goddesses are summoned to unleash retribution for abuses, murder and injustice done to family.
"Tisiphone
(tis-if-oh-nee) is the "blood avenger," the punisher of murder and
crimes against family. Alecto's name means "unceasing anger." Megaera
(mah-ger-ah) is called the "jealous one," is especially peeved about
adultery." - [source]
As I held it together, I realised that I was angry about a lot of things - that I had been neglecting to exercise and exorcise my feelings about my fraught mother/daughter relationship and about not having the time I wanted to spend with my newly found family, especially my Grandma, due to a hectic and demanding freelance artist workload. I had also not had any time to reflect on my new identity as Niece to my Aunts and Uncles and Auntie to my nieces and nephews now that I had found them. My head hurt getting frustrated about it.
The story of the Three Furies or the Erinnyes (The Kindly Ones) is an enlightening dramatic inquiry of Ancient Greek mythology into Justice, Humanity and Transformation as these daemons/Goddesses are summoned to unleash retribution for abuses, murder and injustice done to family.
"Tisiphone
(tis-if-oh-nee) is the "blood avenger," the punisher of murder and
crimes against family. Alecto's name means "unceasing anger." Megaera
(mah-ger-ah) is called the "jealous one," is especially peeved about
adultery." - [source]
Once they are summoned the matter is taken from your hands because it is they who decided what the punishment will be
