Long ignored because of her famous journeying husband, Ancient Greece’s Penelope gets her own musical, establishing her story in this glorious, breathtaking new musical.
Crafted as an intimate cabaret-style show, Penelope launches into one of the most brilliant overtures before enabling the protagonist (a mesmerising Grace McLean) to tell the story of her life as Odysseus’s wife, the horrors of the Trojan War and her decades-long wait for her husband to return, in an empowering and roaring musical success.
Penelope is an outstanding musical success, and one that is captivating from the first moment. McLean oozes grace and class, sitting poised on a stool before launching into her opening number. McLean’s performance captures the anger, rage and torment of Penelope, whose ironic acknowledgement of how history has sidelined her for the men in her life adds to the sense of injustice and frustration she feels.
Alex Bechtel’s music and lyrics ebb and flow through several genres, but the richness of the musicality helps to immediately set the scene, where notes wash over the audience in a manner that reflects Odysseus’s nautical journey; yet this show is not about him; it is about the defiant exploration of his wife. It is, musically, gorgeous, and one that feels remarkably polished and crying out for a larger-scale production already.
It is also a production which does not isolate you if you are unfamiliar with Penelope’s story either. Exposition is classily woven into the presentation, with McLean pulling audiences through Penelope’s life in a manner that instantly sets the Ancient Greek scene, with cheeky nods to statue poses, while also including some very-well researched explorations of the era’s daily praying rituals. This is a classy retelling of one of antiquity’s most intriguing yet undervalued characters, and will certainly inspire some later wider reading.
But the star of this production is, undoubtedly, McLean. This is a commanding, poignant and devastating individual performance. Brash and charming, furious and frantic, Penelope is a devastated wife, aching lover and frustrated mother, with all three channelled through her performance with grace and ease, in a role that she feels born to play.
This is a superbly refined, mature, new musical, and one of the breakout pieces of the Fringe. While Penelope may have been shunned by history, her life, her trials and her passions are reignited in this powerful, exceptional, new work. Atmospheric, engrossing and brimming with musicality, this is a show not to be missed.
