At 1:08 p.m. on July 10th, 2016 we performed a site specific production
of the two fragments that remain from the lost Sophocles tragedy Nausicaä at Pillar Point. Sophocles Nausicaä is part of a larger project called IOTA that sets out to perform the existing fragments for the lost plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.
The weather was sunny with a temperature of 72℉. The duration of the performance was 65 minutes for an audience of 37.
The Fragments…
…to weave robes and tunics made of linen…
The wave passed me by
then slowly sucked me back
Only these two fragments remain from Sophocles original play that are presumably based upon the fifth and sixth books of the Odyssey.
Location…
Pillar Point
The site was originally inhabited by the Ohlone people
The storytelling of sacred narratives has been an important component of the Ohlone. These narratives often teach specific moral or spiritual lessons. These stories centered around the Coyote trickster spirit as well as Eagle and Hummingbird. Coyote spirit was clever, wily, lustful, greedy, and irresponsible. He often competed with Hummingbird, who despite his small size, regularly got the better of Coyote.
Ohlone creation stories mention the world was covered entirely by water
apart from a single peak, Mount Diablo, on which Coyote, Hummingbird, and Eagle stand.
Humans are the descendants of Coyote.
The native way of life rapidly changed in the late 18th century as the first Europeans arrived. By all estimates, the Ohlone were reduced to less than ten percent of their original pre-mission era population.
The first European land exploration of Alta California, the Spanish Portolà expedition, passed through the area on its way north on October 28-29, 1769. Franciscan missionary Juan Crespi described the site in his diary
In this place there are many geese, and for this reason the soldiers named it the plain of ‘Los Ansares’. From the camp the…point lies to the north-northwest, and the high rocks look like two thick Farallones [rocky islands] of an irregular and pointed shape. Bolton, Herbert E. (1927). Fray Juan Crespi: Missionary Explorer on the Pacific Coast, 1769-1774. HathiTrust Digital Library. pp. 223–225
With the founding of Mission Dolores in 1776 the area came into use for grazing of mission livestock.
Following the secularization of the missions in 1834 these lands were subdivided into large grants called ranchos. The area became part of Rancho Corral de Tierra (“earthen corral”) granted in 1839 by Governor Pro-Tem Manuel Jimeno to Francisco Guerrero
Guerrero was murdered in San Francisco by Francis LeBras in 1851.
He is buried at the Mission Dolores cemetery. Guerrero Street in San Francisco is named for him.
On October 17th, 1876 the three-masted Welsh ship Rydal Hall
crashed in the fog off the beach. Only twenty-one members of the thirty-man crew survived. The cargo was a total loss. As salvage was impossible,
the broken ship languished almost a month on the rocks before cracking apart — spilling tons of coal into the water and onto the beach
During prohibition in the 1920s the area was used by bootleggers.
Rum Ships cruised off shore unloading millions of dollars worth of illegal alcohol.
During World War II an army post was established to protect from Japanese invasion and bombing raids.
In early March 1967, Alex Matienzo, Jim Thompson, and Dick Knottmeyer
surfed the waves. With them was Matienzo’s roommate’s white-haired German Shepherd. They left the dog on shore, but he swam out to them.
Finding the conditions unsafe for the dog, Matienzo tied him up before rejoining the others. They surfed overhead peaks about 1/4 mile from shore
and thought the bigger outside waves too dangerous.
These surfers named the location after the dog… Maverick
Collaborators…
Jamie Lyons (concept and direction)
Aleta Hayes (choreography and Artistic Director of The Chocolate Heads)
Timothy Lee (Poseidon)
Arthur Jongebloed (Athena)
Benjamin Cohn (Odysseus)
Judy Syrkin-Nikolau (Nausicaä)
Amber Levine (Maiden/Cyclops)
with…
Angrette McCloskey (design) and Jamie Freebury (narrator)