Theatre / Reviews
Review: Penelope RETOLD, Brewery Theatre
Caroline Horton’s captivating one-hander is part of RETOLD, a series of brand new one-woman plays commissioned by Derby Theatre which aim “to crack open the classics and see the stories afresh from the perspective of the often silent female characters”. It’s a great idea, and brilliantly executed here.
Horton is witty and moving by turns (and often simultaneously) as Penelope, Odysseus’ wife, left to eke out the years alone on their island paradise/prison of Ithaca while her famous husband battles it out with the Trojans and then makes his way painstakingly home across the Mediterranean, by way of monsters, cyclops and (most obviously to Penelope’s chagrin) sundry beautiful island temptresses.
Lounging in homely-looking underclothes on a vast unmade bed, with a fixed grin and sing-song tone beneath which the sadness and anger peek out regularly, Horton conveys brilliantly the strain felt by the one left behind, garnering none of the glory but feeling all of the loneliness and abandonment.
She makes a video for a military wives website, plastering a broad smile on her face as she runs through her golden rules for the successful military spouse – and the sense of making the best of a desperately bad lot (“see the lifestyle as an adventure… focus on the good times… be in a constant state of readiness for his return”) is palpable.
Horton’s monologue is witty, sharp, fun-loving – but also strongly lyrical when it needs to be, using alliteration, rhythm and repetition (her description of her husband, at the end as the anger finally breaks out of its decorous cage, as a “slippery, slipshod wayfarer” is especially memorable). Also striking is the mix of Horton’s very modern, vernacular delivery and movements, with the nobility and power of the Classical tale.
Witty, quicksilver, able to convey a rainbow of emotions within nanoseconds, Horton is a captivating performer to watch. And with this fine one-woman show she opens up another, equally crucial side to one of the Classical world’s best-known tales. The anguish, bravery and forced jollity of the one left behind has rarely been more eloquent.
Penelope RETOLD continues at the Brewery Theatre, Bristol until Saturday, April 11. For more info and to book tickets, visit www.tobaccofactorytheatres.com/shows/detail/penelope_retold
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