About the show: In   The Penelopiad, award-winning storyteller, Margaret Atwood, weaves a historic saga from a new perspective. After years of loyalty through untold hardship and upon her hero-husband's return from war, Penelope's fidelity is rewarded with butchery and abuse. Featuring a cast of women and Atwood's wry humour, The Penelopiad is a re-examining of an epic HIS-story, which uncovers the hypocrisy of the iconic "good wife".

We welcome Director Michelle Langille to Hart House Theatre for her debut directing project with us, although she is certainly no stranger to the theatre scene around the country.

When asked "why this story, why now?", Michelle had this to say:

"Well, there are so many talented female performers in this city that doing a show for 13 women is a no brainer.

I'm a sucker for the other side of the story, for the other point of view. It's the truth of our lives: that we all experience the same thing very, very differently. You can tell the same story of the same event 50 different ways, based on the 50 people present.

The Penelopiad is a story of suppressed voices, of the consequences of suppressing the voices of women in particular, women of all stations. It is a tragedy in the truest sense of the word in that it is preventable. If Penelope brought Eurycleia into her plan, if Penelope had welcomed Odysseus right away, if, if, if! If she had her voice, if she had autonomy, if the maids had autonomy, if we could see past our own struggles to hear the voices of those who are truly suffering.

I am deeply interested in guilt and accountability.  If we didn't tie the noose that hung them but we didn't stop the people who did, are we accountable? If we didn't fire the gun that killed an innocent black man reaching for his cell phone but we enabled a system that allows for unchecked power in law enforcement, are we accountable? If we weren't alive when our ancestors stole the land but we benefit from it, are we accountable? I believe we are. Guilt is powerful and can consume us, but I hope that it can also push us to action, to own our accountability and allow us to transform it into empathy and a desire to help those who need and deserve it. "

Joining Michelle on the production team are designers Holly Meyer-Dymny   (sets), Cat Haywood (costumes), Steph Raposo  (lights) and Andy Tridhardt  (sound). This team will be creating the underworld, after-death reality of Penelope and her maids.

Preliminary Set Rendering by Holly Meyer-Dymny

To interview the director or our production team, or to arrange a tour of the build-in-progress, please call the media contact listed below.

Preliminary Costume Renderings by Cat Haywood