Macaria

Brenda Lee Greech as Macaria

### Seen In

Alighieri's department store, The Square, The Elysium Hotel, The Nightclub Office, Ferry's Auto

### Seen With

Polyxena, Polydorus, Hecuba, Polymestor, Kampe, Hades

## Relationship Information

### Family

Daughter of Hades and Persephone, sister of Zagreus and lover of Polyxena

## Cast

### Played By

Ally Clarke, Brenda Lee Greech, Eleonore Cabrera, Fern Grimbley, Katie Lusby, Leal Zielinska, Lou Ditaranto, Sharol Mackenzie,, Stephanie Nightingale, WenHsin Lee, Yilin Kong

Macaria is the worker of Alighieri's Department Store, and girlfriend to Polyxena.

Macaria’s long standing family relationship with Polyxena secretly grows beyond friendship. Her story arc revolves around the tragedy of her blossoming first love, cut short by Polyxena's sacrifice. She spends much of her loop mourning, and preparing Polyxena's funeral rites before gathering the strength for revenge.

## Loop

Begins the show folding clothes in the department store

Greets Polydorus and Polyxena who walk through before they head to Ciacco

She watches on and joins Hecuba, Polyxena, Polydorus and Polymestor to celebrate Polyxena's birthday in Troy Square.

Afterwards she runs off to the Klub Office with Polyxena and Polydorus, where they are given drinks by Kampe. They are briefly interrupted by Apollo and Cassandra. Macaria and Polyxena head into the Klub and dance together, before heading to the Aphrodite Suite bedroom where they continue to dance and flirt.

Macaria then heads down to Alighieri's, where she wraps a present and ties a ribbon. She locks something away in a shrine under the counter, and then hurries out to Ciacco, as the women of Troy prepare for the invasion.

She heads out into the Square with the rest of the women and watched Polyxena sacrifice herself.

After the crowd disperses, Macaria dresses Polyxena and takes her body to be laid on the table in Alighieri's. She puts a shroud over her body and face.

She heads to the Danaides Tenement kitchen (Room IIIIIII) and mourns the loss of Polyxena. She then stands up and looks at herself in the mirror before noticing a WM behind her. She'll hold their arms and feel their pulse before hugging them and running back into Troy.

From there she runs to the arcade, where she unlocks the door and may take a WM in for a 1:1.

After the 1:1, she re-enters from the Souk area, and runs up the Tenement Square stairs, through the greenhouse room, Aphrodite, Klub office, and into the Klub for the blinding of Polymestor.

## 1:1s

Macaria has two '1:1' scenes, including a walk-out.

Soon after mourning Polyxena's death in Room IIIIIII, in The Tenement Area, she makes her way to The Palladium and takes a WM into a private scene, behind one of the locked doors by the arcade. After leading them through what appears to be a storage room for Alighieri's (judging by the many crates of dress fabric), she takes a fake red rose and places it into the WM's hand. She then leads them next through a pitch black corridor, and then through into what appears to be a brightly lit backstage area. \* Then she will take the WM through a final door, leading them inside of the previously locked-off Ferry's Auto, before removing their mask and placing it in a crate labelled 'SECTION 16'. She then looks towards a large cardboard wall and considers pulling it aside to get past, before instead getting onto the floor and beginning to crawl though a maze of smaller cardboard boxes, and indicating that the WM follow her. Having successfully followed in crawling though the cardboard maze, the WM will find themselves inside a small shelter/bed, with many blue metal mugs lining the ceiling, strung up with string. Macaria proceeds to guide the WM's hand, still holding the flower, over to a small shrine, and drop it onto a pile of other flowers, before taking their hands and tracing her finger along the palm-lines, delicately. She then says a whispered prayer to herself, before taking a blue mug (identical to the ones on the ceiling) and placing it in the WM's hand - taking a small bottle of sake, she pours the contents into the mug and gestures for the WM to drink it. Once they have done so, she will empty the last drops over a small statue in the shrine, as she hangs the mug up with the others and gently plucks the string, rattling all the mugs at once. After leading the WM back out the cardboard maze, she opens the double doors to Ferry's Auto, leading them back out into The Square, as she whispers "Thank you.", and walks away. \*\*

Finally, upon the conclusion of the Troy Finale, Macaria will stand behind a WM and hold them tightly, as sand falls from the sky, showering Hecuba. She will then take their hand and walk them through to Mycenae to watch the finale over there. After the second finale is finished, she will lead them back towards Troy, remove their mask, thank them for coming, and redirect them towards PEEP. *\*\*\**

*\* It seems that this backstage area is actually a functioning changing room for the performers, so although sometimes it is appropriately lowly lit, more often than not it is kept as is, serving merely as a passageway for ease of access, rather than specifically adding to the 1:1 experience. \*\* Some performers may also choose to hug the WM tenderly before leading them back out of the cardboard maze. \*\*\* Some performers may lead a WM to the Mycenae Finale, before leaving them there.*

## Trivia

During previews, Macaria (also spelt Macariah/Makaria) was originally referred to as Penthesilea.

## Mythology

Macaria or Makaria is the name of two figures in ancient Greek religion and mythology. While one is said to be the daughter of Hades, the other is attributed to Hercules as her father. Despite their differing parentage, the name "Macaria" is derived from the Greek word for "blessed" or "fortunate." The exact details of their mythical stories are unclear and may vary depending on the particular source. However, she is sometimes honored as a minor goddess in ancient Greek religious rituals and ceremonies.

As the daughter of Hades, Macaria is often associated with death and sacrifice, but she is also seen as a goddess of rebirth and renewal, as she is the daughter of Persephone, who represents the cycle of life and death. Some sources also describe her as a goddess of the harvest, as her mother was associated with the growth of crops.

In some versions of the myth, Macaria sacrifices herself during the war between the gods and the Giants, ensuring the victory of the gods. In other versions, she willingly gives herself up as a sacrifice to help her father Hades and his brothers, Zeus and Poseidon, defeat the Titans and establish their rule over the universe.

Although there are no direct connections between Malaria and Polyxena in greek mythology there are parallels between the two figures, both of whom were daughters who were sacrificed to secure victory in a conflict.