Central Theme & Genres

By reframing ancient myths, the play confronts exploitation, dismantles the muse trope, and imagines empowered sex worker narratives.

Genres: Burlesque-Theatre, Storytelling, Art History

Target Audience

Amuse will draw in queer and feminist communities, burlesque and cabaret fans, sex worker and allied audiences, as well as theatre-goers, festival crowds, and students in gender, performance, and classics. Bold, sexy, and politically charged, it speaks to those who want entertainment and provocation in equal measure.

Synopsis:

Phryne, the legendary courtesan of Ancient Greece, now Burlesque performer, steps onto the stage to give us a performance we’ll never forget. But as she begins, she realizes her “memories” aren’t truly her own—they are images, stories, and myths created by the men who painted her, sculpted her, and wrote about her.

Recreating these famous depictions—most notably the sensational story of her trial, where she supposedly saved her life by flashing her tits to the jury—Phryne begins to imagine other possibilities: What if she was in full control of her image? What could legacy look like through her own eyes?

At the end of the performance, the actor removes her wig, breaking character to speak directly to the audience. By sharing her own experience as a sex worker, and how tired she is hearing similar stories told exclusively by non-sex workers, we see the importance of creating an idol out of Phryne. Men keep re-envisioning and conjuring and embellishing new versions of her - Why can’t we?

Through storytelling, burlesque dance, striptease, and audience interaction, Fantasizing Phryne reclaims the narrative of one of history’s most mythologized sex workers, weaving historical fragments with speculative futures.

The team

Olivia Woods

Playwright & Director

Al Tom

Playwright & Director

Madison Jolliffe

Playwright, Director, Performer

Caitlynn Schijff

Costume Designer