Synopsis

Khaos is a re-imagining of the ancient fertility myth of Demeter and Persephone. In the original myth, Persephone is abducted by her uncle Hades, and taken to the Underworld to be his wife. Persephone’s mother, the Goddess Demeter, enters a period of intense grief which threatens to destroy the fertile earth. Eventually the other Gods intervene and a deal is struck – Persephone will spend half the year with Hades and half with Demeter.

This original myth expresses the cycles of fertility, the order of the seasons. Spring will follow winter, Persephone will return and Demeter will restore fertility to the earth. In our re-imagining of the Demeter and Persephone story, we push past the given conclusion of the original myth to ask, what if a civilization’s need for progress prevented Persephone from returning to console her grieving mother?  Would the cycles of rejuvenation be broken?

Written to express contemporary tensions regarding climate change, Khaos illustrates how short-sightedness, greed and desire – common sources of human weakness  – can lead to global impacts that we, as a race, have difficulty fathoming.

“In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments — there are consequences.”

Orchestra Size – fl, oboe, clar, bsn, tp, fhn, tbn, pno, timp, perc, strings

Characters

Leads – 7

Chorus – 6 minimum (4 if Helios and Hekate double as chorus)

Total – 13 plus dancer (11 if Helios and Hekate double as chorus)

 

Persephone – a young woman / Queen of the Underworld

Demeter – her mother / Goddess of Grain / the Earth

Adriana – Persephone’s friend

Cerberus – Gatekeeper of the Underworld

Hades – Lord of the Underworld – Demeter’s brother, Persephone’s uncle

Helios – God of the Sun – Demeter’s brother, Persephone’s uncle

Hekate (aka Hestia) Goddess of the Hearth – Demeter’s sister, Persephone’s aunt

Dancer – can also be Persephone’s Suitor, Man 1

Chorus – chorus doubles as upper world and Hades chorus

 

Settings

Upper World – Demeter’s world  – the earth

Underworld –Hades’ Kingdom – the afterlife / death

Between the Worlds – approaching Hades.

Duration

Act 1, ca, 70 min

Act 2, ca, 50 min