Penelope - Theatre Elision

from Instagram

This is the third show I have seen at Elision Playhouse produced by Theatre Elision, and the third show I am thoroughly impressed with. It is another musical, though a song-cycle may be more in line with the work, or even a one-person cabaret, that works with the story of Penelope. Penelope is the wife of Odysseus, the hero of the Odyssey by Homer. Written as a concept album by Alex Bechtel, the work was shaped into a musical with the help of Eva Steinmetz, and Grace McLean (creator of In The Green). As performed by Christine Wade and directed by Rachel Brady with music direction by Harrison Wade, this work is gorgeous and a delight. 

Penelope is one woman, sitting at a piano and backed by violin, viola, cello, keyboard, and drums pouring her heart out to the audience. She has been waiting for 20 years for her husband to come home. She crys out to Athena for help, she has 100 plus suitors waiting for her in her own yard, eating her food, causing issues with her staff and garden... and all the time she waits. She spends her day at the loom weaving, telling her suitors that she will pick one of them when she has finished the piece she is weaving - yet each night she undoes her work. This is a woman with strength, and someone who wants answers but isn't really getting any. As I wrote, it feels very much like a cabaret show where someone sings a bunch of songs and tells a story, a very intimate story, and builds a connection with the audience.

from Instagram

Christine Wade does this with such ease. From the moment she sits at the piano and plays the first few notes, letting them linger in the air, before the overture begins and the band walks on one by one and joins her, and the music builds and grows. Wade has the self-assuredness that she knows what she is doing, she knows how to weave a spell around the audience and bring them into her story, her perspective of the years this character has been without her husband. Yet, the character and performer are both smart enough that it isn't all about Penelope missing her husband. It is about survival after losing a loved one, it is about picking up the pieces and moving on yet still maintaining hope that things will end the way Penelope wants them to. After all, the first chorus states "I would wait for you forever if you told me what forever was for." The lyrics are smart, providing some incredible imagery. The music is melodic and moving, yet they aren't all ballads or sad. There is some anger and bitterness in the story. Lucky for the audience Wade not only knows her way around a piano, but she knows how to tell and share a story with her voice and performance. It is an incredible work performed by an incredible performer. Penelope is about 80 minutes with no intermission, plays till Aug 17 and you really should go see this work.