THE PENELOPIAD - Margaret Atwood's Tribute to the Women of 'The Odyssey'

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Fri 23 May 2025 - Sun 01 Jun 2025

By Margaret Atwood

Directed by Kristin Telfer

Featuring original music by Kristin Stefanoff

Little Theatre

"Didn't I wait, and wait, and wait, despite the temptation - almost the compulsion - to do otherwise? And yet what have I amounted to, now the official version has gained ground? An edifying legend."

The University of Adelaide Theatre Guild is kicking off its stellar 2025 season with THE PENELOPIAD playing at The Little Theatre from 23 May - 1 June 2025.

From the Booker Prize-winning author of The Blind Assassin and The Handmaid's Tale, comes a splendid contemporary twist on Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, told from the perspective of Odysseus' wife Penelope.

SYNOPSIS

Penelope tells her story from the afterlife, from her miraculous birth and childhood as the daughter of a king and a water nymph to her marriage to the renowned and wily Odysseus.

Penelope’s quiet life shatters when her cousin Helen runs off with a foreign prince, sparking war. Odysseus departs, leaving Penelope alone to navigate a world of uncertainty. As years pass, suitors descend, eager for her wealth and hand. With few options, she turns to her loyal maids, struggling to hold them at bay - waiting for a husband who may never return.

These Maids are also with Penelope in the afterlife, to observe and participate in her narration of the events of her life... and remind her of the role she played in the tragic ending to theirs.

The Penelopiad is sure to be a night of storytelling at its most epic with original music, poetry, tragedy and Atwood’s wicked humour!

CONTENT WARNING stylised sexual violence and mild coarse language

Dates

Cost

Tickets are available now at www.trybooking.com/CXJIL

Little Theatre is located near Gate 10 Victoria Drive, in The Cloisters at The University of Adelaide.
Please allow extra time for parking especially when there is an event at Adelaide Oval.

For more information, please see:
https://www.adelaide.edu.au/theatreguild/whats-on
http://www.facebook.com/UoATheatreGuild
http://instagram.com/uoatheatreguild

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