PENELOPE
My thoughts on Penelope or…an odyssey worth waiting for
It’s Homer’s Odyssey through her eyes. Penelope, wife of Odysseus, finally gets to tell her story in this gorgeous gem of a show with music and lyrics by Alex Bechtel and a book by Bechtel, Grace McLean, and Eva Steinmetz.
And Penelope has plenty to say in this 75 minute cabaret style show. Although the Trojan War has been over for 10 years, Penelope has been waiting another 10 years for Odysseus to return and the wait has taken quite a toll on her. She occasionally has a drink or two as she does while recapping the Trojan War with humor in “Drunk Iliad.” She has no shortage of unsuitable suitors too dense to realize that she unravels her daily weaving that she says she must finish before choosing a husband. She has raised her son Telemachus who leaves her to search for his father.
Penelope’s life is not uneventful but now we learn the psychological effects of her epic wait and her steadfast loyalty to her husband. Her songs often portray the depth of her loneliness. However, she sings a telling line, “I’ve been looking out this window so long that it turned into a door. I can’t wait anymore” revealing her determination, resilience, and growing readiness to go through that door.
Cara Statham Serber is Penelope. Her Penelope, looking like a goddess in mourning in the black Grecian style gown from costumer Sarah Mosher, engages us immediately, addressing us directly. Director Sarah Gay often has Serber out in the audience where tables are set up nightclub style. We are seldom more than a few feet from Serber, and we become personally invested in Penelope’s story. And just as Calypso enchanted Odysseus, Serber enchants us. Whether by her soul stirring singing of the beautifully plaintive Bechtel ballads or through her uncanny ability to give the mythological Penelope vibrant life and 21st Century appeal, Serber casts an unforgettable spell.
Joining Serber on the journey are Music Director Cody Dry on piano, Catherine Beck on viola, Bethany Hardwick on violin, Molly Wang on cello, and Wes Griffin providing percussion. All band members play the goddess Athena to whom Penelope prays and sometimes questions. Dry and the band are a Greek chorus of sorts, a Greek chorus who produces splendidly lush music.
The physical aspects of the play are also impressive. Bob Lavallee’s bandstand like set keeps the band in full view and steps lead down to the “nightclub” area where Penelope enthralls us. Bryan Stevenson lighting design is so exquisite and scene enhancing with its amazing sunrises, sunsets, and seascapes that it becomes another character and David Lanza’s sound keeps every note clear.
Director Gay gives Penelope an intimacy and immediacy that makes for mesmerizing storytelling and, in a virtuoso performance, Cara Statham Serber dazzles telling Penelope’s story. This is one of those don’t miss it or regret it forever shows. Just stunning.
Photography by Evan Michael Woods
