A legendary courtesan steps out of the box to confront the myths men created about her, and reclaims her story through burlesque, striptease, and speculative imagination.

Phryne, the legendary courtesan from ancient Greece and now a burlesque performer, takes the stage to give us a performance we won't soon forget. But as soon as she begins, she realizes that her 'memories' are not really hers—they are images, stories, and myths created by the men who painted her, sculpted her, and wrote about her.

‍By recreating these famous scenes—particularly the sensational story of her trial, in which she supposedly saved her life by showing her breasts to the jury—Phryne begins to imagine other possibilities: what if she had had complete control over her own image?
– What would her legacy look like through her own eyes?

‍At the end of the performance, the performer takes off her wig and breaks character to speak directly about why this story is still relevant today. As a former sex worker, she is tired of sex workers' stories being told exclusively by people who are not sex workers. Fantasizing Phryne is an act of reclaiming—centering the voices of sex workers, questioning authorship and the role of the muse, and inviting the audience to rethink how history is written.