THE SISSY-FOOTED MYTH GAME: A SYNOPSIS:
by Lillian Hara
In the ancient myth, Sisyphus is fated to forever keep rolling a boulder up the mountain only to
have it roll back down as it nears the top: an exercise in futility.
This is the inspiration for the "The Sissy-footed Myth Game", but in our era of minimalism--
everything is tragically reduced in size. The boulder has shrunk to a tennis ball; a king becomes
a couple of clowns, Laura and Harvey, (who strongly evoke Laurel and Hardy) and at first, the
anguish of futility seems reduced.
The action of the play is a game in which Laura and Harvey compete.
The original mountain is now a ramp that curves at the top and comes down the other side. The
object is to kick the ball to the top of the ramp, but there's no hole or indentation to keep the ball
up there.
Depending on how hard it's kicked, it will either roll back down or it'll be propelled past the
curve so it comes down the other side; and The Game is never played.
Laura and Harvey profess that they want to play --but their constant wrangling about everything
and anything they can dredge up results in their total failure to start. Until at the end of the
play,something happens that dramatically unites them.
The aim is that the two characters will offer redeeming qualities: some laughter and provocative
questions, and perhaps, a glimmer of hope.