Amelia Bullmore Will Lead THEPENELOPIAD at York Theatre Royal

York Theatre Royal has announced that Amelia Bullmore will return to the stage to star as Penelope in the major UK revival of Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad, directed by the company's Creative Director Juliet Forster. Performancs will run 10 - 31 October 2026.

Bullmore last appeared on the stage in the critically acclaimed UK revival of Circle Mirror Transformation at HOME Manchester in 2018. The production also has extended its run until 31 October.

Adapted from Margaret Atwood's critically acclaimed novella of the same name, The Penelopiad is an exuberant feminist retelling of Homer's The Odyssey giving voice to the silenced Penelope and her chorus of maids.

Amelia Bullmore today said, “I'm thrilled I'm going to be working at York Theatre Royal - such a beautiful theatre - on this fantastic play. The Penelopiad manages to be funny, dark, moving and provocative by turns. And it's Margaret Atwood so the writing is uniquely brilliant. I think audiences will love how playful it is and how directly it connects with them.”

Juliet Forster, Creative Director at York Theatre Royal said, “It is wonderful to have Amelia on board to lead the cast for The Penelopiad. Penelope is such a fascinating and complex character in Margaret Atwood's retelling and I know Amelia will do her justice! I can't wait to work with her to bring this compelling story to the stage for York audiences.”

The Penelopiad premiered at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon, in July 2007 in a co-production between the Royal Shakespeare Company and Canada's National Arts Centre. This marks the first major UK revival of the show since that production.

Margaret Atwood, author of the modern feminist classic The Handmaid's Tale, revisits Homer's The Odyssey in a powerful, irreverent and darkly humorous retelling that unpicks one of the oldest of myths.

Immortalised as the devoted and faithful wife to the glorious Odysseus, Penelope waits 20 years for her husband to return from the Trojan War, silently weaving and unpicking and weaving again. Now it's time to hear the story of those left behind...

Reimagining this ancient tale, Atwood gives voice to the silenced Penelope and her chorus of maids. Wandering the underworld Penelope spins a different kind of thread: her side of the story - a tale of injustice, betrayal and revenge.