Review of Penelope RETOLD at Derby Theatre

 

This fascinating one woman show is a dramatic exploration of Odysseus' wife Penelope and her life experiences are brought up to date just as in the main house production of The Odyssey. Penelope (Caroline Horton) is left all alone with her young son Telemachus while Odysseus reluctantly goes off to fight in the Trojan wars and returns nineteen years later a practical stranger. The multi-layered piece delves too into modern day experiences of forced separation for military wives. The performance is very much in the moment, compelling and often raises and highlights feelings and issues of hope and frustration through dramatic abstraction.

It is done with great expertise, humour and passion by performer and dramaturg Caroline Horton who returns to Derby Theatre in May 2013 with her Olivier Award nominated show 'You're Not Like The Other Girls Chrissy' set during World War Two.

Penelope Retold is superbly directed by Lucy Doherty with the set designed by Tim Heywood and finds Penelope hidden in a bed hugging and smelling her missing husband's great coat and watching rapid looping repeats of a cheesy film about a dog returning unexpectedly home to huge fuss and love. The whole show is wed to this unkempt bed – a place of comfort and of security and sexual memories and conversely of deep unbridled anger towards her missing husband. In the Odyssey Penelope questions the newly returned Odysseus about the bed that has been fashioned from an olive tree with its roots still in the ground. Horton roots her play and uses the bed surface to flit enigmatically between loving memories of marrying the handsome soldier Odysseus at the tender age of fifteen to sudden desperately frightened flight or fight syndromes. Penelope is not a wholly sympathetic character though despite her outward charm. She can be cruel. Within the story telling we hear tales of her cruelly punishing Odysseus' beloved dog, Argos, by locking it out of the house for whining at his departure and making it live nineteen years on a dung heap until it suddenly dies on seeing his master return.

The work also explores, with some humour coupled with sensitivity, the life of military wives and their support systems and meetings. The audience are fully involved throughout and are spoken to as various ladies at the meeting and at one point an audience member is addressed as though he is the estranged husband. Also there is a very funny weather report based on the shipping report and speaks of Greek gods and stormy seas. This becomes a paradox however as the shipping report broadcast in the British Isles is generally seen as a comforting medium but not in this version.

The temperature of the sea and tides, swimming and drowning are constant metaphors and states within this gripping piece which ends with Penelope dramatically tearing apart the bed and her exposing her tortured soul through an explosive barrage of poetic wordplay before drowning herself in the sea. Penelope RETOLD takes us on a journey deeper into Penelope, the caged and isolated woman, and beyond the end of the main house stage play and importantly, gives a powerful voice to the character of Penelope that was denied by Homer.

This is a gripping and unique piece of theatre and a must see. Five stars!

Booking www.derbytheatre.co.uk

Box Office: 01332 593939

Phil Lowe

Penelope Retold at Derby Theatre

Penelope RETOLD, performing in Derby Theatre Studio from February 20 until March 1st, is the perfect accompaniment piece to The Odyssey, as it looks at the story from the perspective of Odysseus’ wife, Penelope. The RETOLD programme is a series of brand new one-woman plays commissioned by Derby Theatre, from some of the most exciting female voices in contemporary theatre today. Penelope RETOLD will be created by theatre maker and performer, Caroline Horton.

To read more about Caroline Horton – theatre maker and performer - http://carolinehorton.net

Booking at https://www.derbytheatre.co.uk/penelope-retold

The Odyssey - Mike Kenny's major adaptation for Derby Theatre.

Homer’s  classical story,The Odyssey in a new version by Mike Kenny directed by Sarah Brigham will be playing at Derby Theatre Fri 14th February – Sat 1st March 2014. This promises to be an epic new version of the classic tale and Derby Theatre’s big production for Spring 2014 and its third home produced production with the excellent Cooking With Elvis and Kes as previous critical and theatrical successes.   

To mark 2014’s First World War centenary, The Odyssey, one of literature’s oldest stories, will explore and highlight the consequences of war through a brilliant and moving new adaptation brought vividly to life to life by an exceptional cast of performers through live music and emotive storytelling.

The Trojan War is over and it’s time for Odysseus to return home. The fighting may have ceased but storms still rage on the high seas. Our hero is forced to run the monumental gauntlet thrown down between him and the long- awaited reunion with his family. But getting home is only half the battle, as twenty years have passed and everything has changed in his absence. 
The show has been adapted by one of England’s leading writers and Olivier Award-winning playwrights, Mike Kenny (who has numerous production and adaptation credits to his name including The Railway Children for York Theatre Royal in association with The National Railway Museum).  

The cast includes: Wole Sawyerr in the central role of Odysseus (Henry VI Parts 1 & 2, Shakespeare’s Globe directed by Dominic Dromgoole); Emma Beattie as Odysseus’ wife, Penelope (The Last of the Haussmans, Iphigenia in Tauris and Elektra, National Theatre); Christopher Price (the Riddler in Batman Live, International Tour; Hansel and Gretel, Kneehigh; Oh What a Lovely War, Northern Stage); local actress Anna Westlake (who most recently appeared in Oddsocks’ production of Comedy of Errors) and Ivan Stott (Musical Director on Derby Theatre’s production of Kes and Musical Director and performer in Derby Theatre’s Christmas show in the studio, Pinocchio). The cast also includes Ella Vale and Rich Dolphin.   

Artistic director, Sarah Brigham said: “Mike’s modern adaptation of this classic story, about a soldier who returns home from war and who has to piece his life back together, has a modern day feel, resonance and relevance through its language and themes. It is a timeless piece which the brilliant ensemble of actors will deliver with a powerful and emotional punch against a soaring, live musical score.”   

Alongside the main show runs a connected piece called, Penelope RETOLD,  with performances from Wednesday 19th February until Saturday 1st March and it is billed as the perfect accompaniment and companion piece to The Odyssey, as it looks at the story from the perspective of Odysseus’ wife, Penelope.

The RETOLD programme is a series of brand new one-woman plays commissioned by Derby Theatre, from some of the most exciting female voices in contemporary theatre today. Penelope RETOLD will be created by theatre maker and performer, Caroline Horton, described in relation to her production of Mess as “a major, major talent”, Time Out.   

Tickets for The Odyssey: £10 - £25.50, concessions £10 - £23.50. Group and school rates available. 16-25 year olds: £5 per ticket on Friday evenings (proof of ID required). 
Tickets for Penelope RETOLD: £9, concessions £6. Or see it for £5 if you book for The Odyssey.

For more information and to book tickets call the Box Office on 01332 59 39 39 or online at www.derbytheatre.co.uk