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| Elaine Noon (Penelope) and cast of "The Penelopiad" |
Directed by
Kate Blackhurst – Set designed by Cate Clelland
Costumes
designed by Annie Kay – Choreographed by Brooke Thomas
Original
music by Glenn Gore Phillips – Sound design by Neville Pye
Lighting
design by Stephen Still.
Presented by
A Crouching Giraffe in association with Papermoon Theatre.
Canberra
Theatre Centre Courtyard Studio. 7th to 17th July 2021.
Performance
on 10th July reviewed by Bill Stephens
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| Elaine Noon as Penelope in "The Penelopiad" |
Margaret
Attwood’s play focusses on Penelope, the wife of Greek hero, Odysseus. According
to Attwood, during a 20 year absence while Odysseus was busy fighting battles
and carousing, Penelope persuaded twelve of her favourite maids to prostitute
themselves to avoid having to make a
decision on a new suitor to replace her
long absent, presumably dead husband. However Odysseus was very much alive, and
upon his return, on discovering what Penelope’s maids had been up to, promptly
had the suitors, along with Penelope’s maids, put to death, much to Penelope’s
disappointment.
Penelope too
is dead when the play commences, but from her new home in Hades, she recounts
her story to defend her reputation as a perfectly faithful wife.
Two Canberra
theatre companies, A Crouching Giraffe and Papermoon Theatre have pooled
resources to present an imaginative version
of this epic story, directed with considerable panache by Kate
Blackhurst, in which an all-female cast of 13 play all the roles, both male and
female.
Apart from
the central role of Penelope, given a compelling performance by Elaine Noon,
the other twelve cast members each played one of the maids as well as suitors,
various ensemble and supporting characters, often differentiated by only a
slight change in costume or the addition of a prop. It says much for the performers
that the storyline remained clear and easy to follow through-out.
Although the
production is very much an ensemble piece, Carolyn Eccles as the scheming
servant, Eurycleia, Martha Russell as Penelope’s adolescent son, Telemachus and
Victoria Dixon as the beautiful but vacuous Helen of Troy, had the best
opportunities to create stand-out characterisations.
Elsewhere
Emily Smith, Tijana Kovac, Milena Rafic, Sarah Hull, Emily Ridge, Shauna
Priest, Heidi Silberman, Jess Waterhouse and Sue Gore Phillips all had moments
to shine, as well as execute Brooke Thomas’ simple, effective choreography for the attractive songs by Glenn Gore Phillip which clarified aspects of
the story.
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| Elaine Noon (Penelope) and some of the cast of "The Penelopiad" |
Perhaps the
most outstanding aspect of the production however is Cate Clelland’s impressive
macramé setting and Annie Kay’s striking costumes, which while carefully
avoiding placing the action in any particular period, provide an appropriate
and visually appealing environment to compliment the storyline.
Photos by Pat Gallagher
