MC MytholOG - Midas, Medea, Jonah*, ATOWT, Last Gasp, Homeric, Icarus, Murph*, Herc, Orpheus, Dayz*

You've heard of the Olympics and all the drama therein. Well, before all that, there was Olympus of course. You've probably heard of Zeus, the most powerful of the Olympians, and of Athena, the wisest of the gods, and perhaps some others. But how well do you really know the denizens of Mount Olympus? Did you know the gods outnumber the goddesses? Well, that explains a lot, doesn't it? Did you know that Hades does not have a throne up there? Death never takes holiday, does it? And so the Rich One must never leave his precious Underworld? Did you know that one of the Olympians has a mortal for a mother?! Scandalous, I know, but mythologically true. It all sounds like a soap opera, doesn't it? Ah-ha, the title!

Well, at any rate, in this episode you'll hear first a brief introduction to the play, which itself is an in medias res introduction to the gods and goddesses of Olympus. After that, our Dreamus Teamus of a cast introduces themselves, but you may be hard pressed to recognize the actors, so immersed are they in their roles. Following that, lend your ears to the two parts of the two act comedy, As the Olympian World Turns - MC's particular (read: idiosyncratic and irreverent) take on the Greek Olympians.

Act I opens with the gods and goddesses, or more accurately, Hera, Poseidon and Apollo, spearheading an open revolt against their leader, Zeus. Wary of Zeus's power, the remaining Olympians, however, are slow to warm to this insurrection idea. In the course of the arguments for removing the tyrannical Zeus, much dirty laundry gets aired, and nobody in this fractious family comes out smelling like roses. But after some discussion, they do finally come to a consensus of sorts!

Please note: different from previous MC productions, the voices of the characters in this play are provided by the much ballyhooed Dreamus Teamus of former colleagues and students who generously provided us their formidable talents. So, without further ado, strap yourselves in, as it may be a bumpy ride up on Mount Olympus, yet as always, enjoy and embrace - in this case not so much the surreal, as the dysfunction.

Act V has been updated with yet another cameo performance! 

The set up, however, is as before. In this busy episode, Act V, the surreal, open ended conclusion to MC’s Jonah, our great prophet has begun in earnest his protest of the Lord’s sparing of the newly penitent Ninevites. For some reason, despite his reservations about choosing Jonah in the first place, the Lord shows pity on Jonah again by protecting his little protest hut from the blistering sun with...a floating gourd - yes, you read right! a floating gourd! Meanwhile, In the midst of all this, his wife Abigail and son Enoch have come to Nineveh to confront Jonah with their displeasure; not surprisingly, this reunion doesn't end well. In another twisty development, the Lord, for obscure reasons, sends forth a giant worm to eat up the gourd that protects Jonah. In the extreme hallucinatory heat, Jonah has a talk with this worm. Yes indeed, and so the stalemate goes. Finally, before the gates of the city, two grizzled prophets debate to a draw Jonah’s folly. 

Enjoy, and embrace the surreality. 

Note: now if anyone were to need any more incentive to tune in, MC has secured four, yes four! cameos for this episode: the newest addition is the adventurous Andrew Tiller as the Lord in Scene i, the incomparable Jessica Childs returns as Abigail, Jonah’s long-suffering wife, in Scene ii,  the multi-talented Brett Ewer as the Worm in Scene iii, and the media veteran William B. Childs as both prophets in Scene iv. Talk about a stacked cast!

In this episode of Jonah, our hero (?), after repenting and being spat out ashore by the great fish, makes the arduous journey to Ninevah where he preaches as if his life depended on it. Meanwhile, with son in tow, his wife, Abigail (another cameo by the incomparable Jessica Childs) has also made the trek to demand an accounting for his behavior and a road map for their future together. Surprisingly, the people of Ninevah and the king, Ashur himself, after some initial resistance to this prophet of the god of the desert, decide to change their sinning ways and thus be spared the Lord's destructive wrath. This is wholly unexpected and disappointing to Jonah who was looking forward to some Old Testament fireworks from the Lord. Not happening. So there's a bit of a stalemate between the Lord and his chosen prophet. On the one hand, Jonah has finally come through and done as he was bidden and should be applauded. On the other hand he just can't leave well enough alone and criticizes the Lord's judgment in sparing Ninevah. And unfortunately, Jonah is not done yet with venting his displeasure...

Granted there are other matters to consider these days (such as the scourge that has divided our country), but if you need a brief break, give an ear to MC's latest podcast - Jonah, Act III.  Surreal as it is, this is the part of the book everyone knows: Jonah’s attempt to escape the Lord by hiding aboard a ship to Tarshish; the Lord’s targeted storm that flushes him out from belowdecks and forces the crew to appease the Lord’s anger by throwing Jonah overboard; Jonah’s rescue by the great fish; his change of heart and deliverance. The fish is relieved to be rid of him, but it's far from over for Jonah. As Coleridge wrote in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner - The man hath penance done/ And penance more will do. 

In this episode the Lord catches up to Cain, now Jonah, and speaks sense to him, making Jonah an offer he should not refuse -  a quid pro quo of tat removal for a preaching stint in distant Nineveh.  Jonah deliberates with himself, his wife Abigail, son Enoch, and best friend Nathan, before rashly deciding to head to Joppa for a fast boat to Tarshish, presumably beyond the Lord's reach. As if that weren't incentive enough, in this episode we have secured a cameo appearance of MC's daughter, Jessica as Abigail in Scene IV. Enjoy. 

And now for something completely different? We have all heard of the story Jonah and the Whale, even if only throught Disney via Pinochio. But what do we really know of this minor prophet of the Old Testament? Well, my Jonah is a Pythonesque take on the book of the Bible in which the epon is a repeat offending sinner, a bit like Midas but a very different animal altogether. I have hewn to the general outline of the biblical Jonah, which is only four chapters, but, as to be expected in any MC production, liberties have been taken, and there are, even by my pre-established standards, some very strange elements in this interpretation, not all entirely the culpa of your beloved MC. 

In Act I after an introductory prologue of course, our Jonah catches up with two fellow prophets who, after an unsettling encounter on the road, provide him with some medicinal fortification to gird him for doing the Lord's bidding, which is to preach to the people of distant NIneveh lest the Lord destroy them utterly. In the course of these preparations for his assignment, some of the backstory to the Lord's selection of Jonah is revealed, as well as more background into Jonah's character, or lack thereof. Why Jonah indeed! At any rate, enjoy this deep dive into the tale of the great minor prophet Jonah!

In this culminating episode of Medea, Jason must face the full force of his wife Medea's rage over his imprudent desire to marry the princess Glauke of Corinth and abandon the woman who had helped him succeed in his quote unquote heroic quest for the Golden Fleece. The end is not pretty but that is the point as Medea yet again shatters the norms of behavior expected of women in the classical world.  

In this episode our power couple hits some bumps in the road. Through Medea's magic cauldron sleight of hand, Jason and Medea ascend the throne that Pelias had previously promised and that was rightfully Jason's, but the townspeople drive them out because of the suspicious circumstances of their accession to the throne. Pariahs again, Jason and Medea approach Corinth where it appears their hard times may take a turn for the better, until Medea, who has risked everything for her beloved, learns of Jason's thoughtless plan to re-marry - a beautiful, nubile princess named Glauke - in order to secure some stabilty for their menage. Tune in to Medea Act IV, but strap yourselves in, for hell hath no fury...

Having finessed their escape from King Aeetes, Jason and Medea return to Jason's home with the object of their quest in hand - the golden fleece! Jason's wicked stepfather, the usurping King Pelias, had promised the kingdom for the fleece. Will he honor his promise to cede the throne to Jason (and Medea)? If he does not honor that promise - and he won't of course because he's one of those really wicked uncles - what will the newlyweds do given all that they have risked? They should be on the throne that was rightfully Jason's in the first place. How will they react to Pelias's decision? Will Medea take matters into her own hands again? Will there be collateral damage from her actions? Was the second prophecy - beware a young relative - accurate after all? Find out in Medea Act III. 

Again with Medea's magic, Jason and Medea steal the fleece from the serpent that guarded it for Aeetes. Furious at having been betrayed again by his own daughter, Aeetes and his armada set off in pursuit of the Argo and the stolen talisman. Ethnocentrically, the Argonauts thought their ship was the fastest ever, yet Aeetes's boats are poised to overtake them. Things do not look good for our newly affianced, but of course with Medea on board, they will surely get through this trial as well, but how, and at what price? Tune in again to Medea to find out the resolution of this latest dilemma.