A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

Argonuts: Jason & the Quest for the Golden Fleece

Full-Length Play, Comedy  /  13w, 10m, 5any gender (youth)

A creative, innovative, and truly hilarious version of the ancient Greek
myth of Jason and his heroic quest for the Golden Fleece.

Argonuts: Jason & the Quest for the Golden Fleece

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    13w, 10m, 5any gender (youth)
  • Duration
    Duration
    105 Minutes
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Adaptations (Literature), Parody / Spoof
  • Suggested Use
    • Competition or audition material
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Appropriate for all audiences, Teen (Age 14 - 18)

Details

Summary

It's funny, easy to produce, tells a classic story and gets a ton of kids on stage.  In other words, it's the show you've been looking for.  It's ARGONUTS!  A cast of 17 girls and 12 boys play nearly 40 characters to tell a creative, innovative, and truly hilarious version of the ancient Greek myth of Jason and his heroic quest for the Golden Fleece.

The story is loosely based on the epic poem “Argonautika” composed by Apollonius of Rhodes in the 3rd Century BCE. The staging described in this script - i.e., the extensive use of blackouts and spotlights, the “god” and “king” platforms, etc. - reflects the first production.  Simpler or more elaborate stagings are certainly possible.

A CHORUS OF ANCIENT GREEKS AGREE!

"The funniest show I never saw!" - Homer
"Full of surprises!" - Ulysses
"Soared beyond my highest expectations" - Icarus
"Amazing! I couldn't believe my eye" - Cyclops
"Even more wonderful than me!" - Narcissus
"Don't myth it!" - Zeus

NOTE ON COSTUMES/PROPS: The centaur can be created very effectively by simply renting a two-person horse costume and skipping the head part. Medea’s costume must be sleeveless for the love potion injection bit. Talos should be as thoroughly bronzed and robot-like as possible. If he is masked, his voice can be provided from a mic offstage. The Skeleton Soldiers can wear skeleton bodysuits and masks, i.e., store-bought Halloween costumes. If the backs of their costumes are solid black, they can “disappear” by facing upstage and then serve as kurogos for the Poseidon Rising scene. The Old Ram can be either a person in a ram costume (easy to construct out of woolly material and a black hooded sweatsuit) or a ram puppet operated by a kurogo (tricky). The Argonauts’ oars can be constructed with narrow, pointed paddles so they can also serve as spears.

NOTE ON THE SNAKE: The snake puppet can be constructed in various ways. In the premiere, its body was made from a series of 6” X 8’ and 8” X 8’ flexible aluminum ducts, painted green and bent into shapes that fit neatly around the DS sides of the god platform. The pieces came apart easily so stagehands could strike them quickly during a blackout. The snake’s neck was an 8” X 8’ duct with a PVC pipe running through it that had a lightbulb attached at the top. Its head was crafted from chicken wire and its eyes were red gels. By connecting the light to a dimmer, the snake’s eyes glowed, then dimmed and went dark as it fell asleep during the lullaby. A puppeteer hidden behind the god platform held the protruding end of the PVC pipe to raise, move, and lower the head/neck unit.

 

History

Argonuts was first performed on November 2, 2006 by students of Argo Community High School in Summit, Illinois. 

Cast Attributes

THE POET - The narrator of the story (male or female).
JASON - A young man in his teens; not the heroic type in appearance.
MEDEA - The beautiful young granddaughter of Queen Æetes.
PELIAS - The king of Iolcus; Jason's uncle.
HERA - The queen of the gods.
CHIRON - A centaur (half-man/half-horse); Jason’s foster father and teacher.
PHINEAS - A paunchy old m
an; speaks with a New York Jewish dialect.
ALCESTIS - The elder daughter of King Pelias.
ASTEROPIA - The younger daughter of King Pelias.
ORPHEUA - An Argonaut; a singer and rock star of the ancient world.
HERCULES - An Argonaut; the world’s strongest man.
CASTOR - An Argonaut; brother of Pollux.
POLLUX - An Argonaut; brother of Castor.
MOPSUS - A male Argonaut.
LAERTES - A male Argonaut.
HIPPOLYTA - A female Argonaut; queen of the Amazons.
ATALANTA - A female Argonaut.
ANTIOPE - A female Argonaut.
NEPHELE - A female Argonaut.
HYLA - A female Argonaut; Hercules’ agent and personal trainer; short, bookish & non-athletic type.
FLEETFOOT - A winged harpy (female).
SWIFTWING - A winged harpy (female).
ÆETES - The elderly queen of Colchis; grandmother of Medea and Apsyrta.
APSYRTA - Medea’s younger sister.
TALOS - A bronze giant (male).
1ST CITIZEN - A Greek citizen (male or female).
2ND CITIZEN - A Greek citizen (male or female).
1ST GUARD - A Greek soldier; captain of the guards (male or female).
2ND GUARD - A fierce Greek soldier (male or female).
3RD GUARD - A rather accommodating Greek soldier (male or female).
HOSTESS - A gorgeous and glitzy TV emcee (female).
1ST JUDGE - A snooty contest judge (male or female).
2ND JUDGE - An attractive blonde judge with a German accent (female).
3RD JUDGE - A funkier, more laid-back judge (male or female).
CUPID - A god of love; boyish (non-speaking).
CUPID'S GIRLFRIEND - Cupid’s girlfriend (non-speaking).
POSEIDON - The god of the sea (non-speaking).
OLD RAM - Somebody in a ram costume (male or female).
SKELETON SOLDIERS - Characters dressed in skeleton masks and bodysuits; minimum four (male or female).
KUROGOS - Graceful stagehands dressed in all-black masks and bodysuits; for moving props onstage in the Japanese theatrical style; minimum two(male or female).
CITIZENS - Greek citizens who interact ad lib.; minimum four, though preferably far more (the equivalent of the chorus in a musical).

The first cast had 29 players –- 12 males and 17 females.  A smaller cast can be created through the doubling and tripling of roles.  In the original, the following were multiple roles:  Chiron/Cupid, 2nd Citizen/Hyla/Cupid’s Girlfriend, Hercules/Talos, 1st Guard/3rd Judge, 1st Citizen/Kurogo, 2nd Guard/Poseidon, 3rd Guard/1st Judge, Antiope/Chiron’s rear end, 2nd Judge/Apsyrta, and of course the Skeleton Soldiers (6) and Kurogos (2) had other roles.  Pelias, Phineas, Æetes, and even Medea could also take on other roles, and Alcestis and Asteropia could double as Fleetfoot and Swiftwing. A larger cast is possible, too, of course, with no doubling, and with more Citizens, Skeleton Soldiers, and Kurogos. Since casting directors often have more females than males to choose from, a number of roles from the traditional story have been feminized here.  Half the crew of Argonauts, for example, are Amazons in this version.  King Æetes is now a queen, Medea’s brother Apsyrtus is now a sister named Apsyrta, and Hylas, Hercules’ armor-bearer, appears as the female Hyla.  Citizens, guard, kurogos, and Skeleton Soldiers can be either male or female.

  • Time Period Greek; Roman & Biblical
  • Features Fantasy Costumes, Period Costumes
  • Additional Features Play w/ Music, Puppetry, Stage Combat, Special Effects
  • Duration 105 Minutes
  • Cautions
    • Mild Adult Themes

Music

  • Musical Style N/A (Not a musical)
  • Vocal DemandsEasy
  • Chorus Size No Chorus

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: $110 per performance

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Authors

Scott Lynch-Giddings

Scott Lynch-Giddings is an actor, writer, and teacher based in Chicago.  His other plays include Louisa's Little Women, an adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's classic novel, and A Fancyfull Historie of That Most Notable & Fameous Outlaw Robin Hood, a full-length telling of the ...
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