PENELOPIAD till 18 August
PENELOPIAD: Adapted from her own book by Margaret Atwood
RSC, The Swan, Stratford Upon Avon
Runs: 1h 45m, no interval, until Saturday 18 August
Review: Rod Dungate, 2 August 2007
(A link to the original book in Amazon is attached at the end of the review.)
Interesting but not inspiring
Margaret Atwood has adapted her own novel, her reworking of the Odyssey from Penelope’s POV, for the stage and herein may lie the problem with this ok but not inspiring production. The performance text strikes you as being too faithful to the book, trying to stage nuances which miss the target in performance.
There is a robust and splendid irony in the way in which gender politics are approached in Atwood’s writing, but the robustness becomes diffused in performance. There are tantalising flashes, it’s true: ‘I’ve leant,’ says Penelope, at the return of her husband, ‘not too come between a man and the reflection of his own cleverness.’ But these are isolated moments.
The multi-layered strangeness of the story is also diminished in performance which must (to a great extent at least) make concrete that which is mysterious in our imagination. A Naiad Mother works in our head but, in this production, her presence is rather more like a 1920s Kate Bush. The richness of the connection between Penelope and Duck is totally lost in the translation of her name as ‘Ducky’.
The hanging of the maidens is beautifully staged but the emphasis on this aspect at the performance’s conclusion skews the play in the wrong direction, confusing rather than enlightening.
Josette Bushell-Mingo’s direction is unsurprising, sometimes pedestrian and lacks a sharp enough focus. I don’t know if the text demands that the company be entirely female or if this is a directorial choice but it adds little to the production. Indeed it sometimes feels as if we’re watching a performance from a girls boarding school. The musical numbers reinforce this impression.
Penny Downie’s Penelope, though, is gorgeous.
Maid (Telemachus): Mojisola Adebayo
Maid – Melantho: Jade Anouka
Maid – Selene: Lisa Karen Cox
Maid (Antinous): Derbhle Crotty
Maid (Naiad Mother / Suitor): Philippa Domville
Penelope: Penny Downie
Maid (Eurycleia): Kate Hennig
Maid – Narcissa (The Oracle): Pauline Hutton
Maid (Icarius / Suitor): Corrine Koslo
Maid (Odysseus): Sarah Malin
Maid (Laertes / Suitor): Pamela Matthews
Maid (Helen of Troy): Kelly McIntosh
Maid – Kerthia (Anticleia / Suitor): Jenny Young
Direction and Movement: Josette Bushell-Mingo
Designed by: Rosa Maggiora
Choreography by: Veronica Tennant
Lighting Designed by: Bonnie Beecher
Dramaturg: Nicola Wilson
Music by: Warren Wills
Sound Designed by: Martin Slavin
Fights by: Alison de Burch
Assistant Director: Rae McKen
Music Director: Michael Cryne
Company Voice Work by: Charmian Gradwell
2007-08-03 17:45:14