Review: Margaret Atwood's THE PENELOPIAD Opens at Edmonton's Walterdale Theatre

On the rocky Greek island of Ithaca, a lonely queen pines for her seafaring husband's safe return. Weeks turn into months then stretch on into decades. Boorish suitors crowd the palace, clamouring for the hand of the presumably widowed queen, Penelope. Desperate to thwart the unwelcome men, Penelope enlists the help of her loyal maidservants. What begins as a successful scheme eventually unravels, leading to deadly consequences for twelve of the queen's maids.

Margaret Atwood's THE PENELOPIAD re-imagines Homer's epic poem, THE ODYSSEY. Told through the eyes of Penelope, the wife of the absent king, Odysseus, it is both a ferocious battle cry and a vulnerable plea. Director Kristen M. Finlay helms the Walterdale Theatre's ambitious production, which features a talented all-female cast.

Alora Bowness steps into the daunting lead role of Penelope. Soon after the curtain rises, Penelope recalls her upbringing as an initially unwanted Spartan princess. At fifteen, she is married off to the pompous Ithacan king, Odysseus (Katy Yachimec-Ferris), reluctantly joining him in his cliffside foreign palace. Bowness brings emotional versatility to Penelope, portraying the character as a timid teen bride, an uncertain new mother, and eventually as a courageous, 35-year-old monarch.

Penelope is joined by twelve of her maids, whose modern casual attire sharply contrasts with their queen's white toga. Like a true Greek chorus, the ensemble shares in Penelope's grief, terror, and bravery. Often gliding slowly in a dream-like state, the maids lend their haunting singing voices to the a cappella musical interludes peppered throughout the show. Stephanie Swensrude stands out as Telemachus- the arrogant son of Penelope and Odysseus- and Samantha Beck makes a brief but humorous appearance as a snake-draped oracle. Aside from Bowness as Penelope, only one other actress portrays a single role. Vivien Bosley charms as Eurycleia, the king's grandmotherly former nursemaid and Telemachus's governess.

The play's austere setting is evoked by Brad Melrose's vivid lighting design. Warm, sunset tones create the illusion of dawn while harsh reds emphasize danger and death. Aside from a single, intricately carved bedpost, the palace's opulence is absent from the stage. The dialogue's dry humour and knife-sharp lyricism carries the slow-burn narrative forward, the show's overlying tension mounting as the plot grows ever more dire.

The play's austere setting is evoked by Brad Melrose's vivid lighting design. Warm, sunset tones create the illusion of dawn while harsh reds emphasize danger and death. Aside from a single, intricately carved bedpost, the palace's opulence is absent from the stage. The dialogue's dry humour and knife-sharp lyricism carries the slow-burn narrative forward, the show's overlying tension mounting as the plot grows ever more dire. Though not all the characters have happy endings, THE PENELOPIAD's themes of bravery and sisterhood still shine through.

THE PENELOPIAD takes centre stage at Edmonton's Walterdale Theatre until May 13.

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