BECAUSE OF THE WOMEN: The Histories of Herodotus (just the high points) as told by Tom Cayler Heats up Pontine Theatre

BECAUSE OF THE WOMEN: The Histories of Herodotus (just the high points) as told by Tom Cayler 5-7 February, Pontine Theatre presents NYC-based performance artist, Tom Cayler, in his original production, Because of the Women: The Histories of Herodotus (just the high points) as told by Tom Cayler. Performances are offered Friday @7:30, Saturday @4 & Sunday @ 2.

Tickets are $24 and may be purchased online at www.pontine.org. Tickets may also be purchased at the door a half-hour prior to each show, based on availability. The Martin Hill Inn is providing accommodations for Mr. Cayler. Pontine's West End Studio Theatre is located at 959 Islington Street, Portsmouth NH. The theatre is not visible from the street. Look for the big 959 on the signpost at the head of the drive. Contact Pontine: info@pontine.org / 603-436-6660

Herodotus (485-420BC) was the father of Western history. In an age when drama and heroic poetry ruled the literary marketplace, he was one of the first practitioners of narrative nonfiction. Herodotus sat in agorae throughout the Hellenic world and told his stories for drachmas. In his time, they went over like gangbusters: and they still do!

The kidnap and rape of Io, Europa, and Medea started the conflict between the East and the West. You may throw in Helen if you wish, but Herodotus dissed Homer on this point. According to Herodotus, Helen was never in Troy!

Herodotus wrote nine books recording why the Hellenes and the barbarians made war on each other. The events Herodotus recorded may have faded with time but, the fact is the West is still at war with the East. According to Cayler, "the political and personal parallels to our age and time are stunning. Herodotus might as well as have been describing the US's Middle Eastern policy."

Because of the Women is Tom Cayler's 75-minute retelling of Herodotus's Histories. His take on Herodotus is that "he is telling a HER-story, not a HIS-tory." The most powerful person in the Greek Mediterranean was the Oracle of Delphi, a young girl who sat on a tripod above a fissure in the earth breathing the holy fumes and speaking the words of Apollo. (Think a younger and more spaced out Ann Coulter!) The Greek world revolved around the Oracle of Delphi. No great decisions of state or matter happened without consulting the Oracle. She was the first political consultant and spinmeister, and she made tons of money. In a world where matriarchal societies were still remembered and feared, the Oracle was the go-to-gal when push came to shove.

Tom Cayler is an OBIE-wining actor and a Screenwriting Fellow with the NY Foundation for the Arts. His award-winning one-man play, Men Die Sooner was broadcast by PBS. Tom spent six months on the Guiding Light before he was thrown out of an airplane. His short story, "The Little Black Dots," was included in Michael Kimmel's Men Confront Pornography (Crown). His first book, written with his son, Cai Marshall, Omega to Alpha: Love with the Perfect Robot, is available as an e-book on Amazon.com.

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