Review: Penelope Redefines a Key Character of Homer’s Odyssey

For some who have read Homer’s epic The Odyssey, there’s still a desire for more, and that’s exactly what you get with Penelope, a new, tremendously entertaining one-woman musical running at Signature Theatre in DC that tells the story of Odysseus’s wife as she waits more than a decade for the king of Ithaca to return. At just 75 minutes, the musical dives deep into her character with a book by Alex Bechtel, Grace McLean, and Eva Steinmetz, and music and lyrics by Bechtel. This is a chance to hear her story.

Jessica Phillips is extraordinary in the title role. She commands the stage from her quiet first moments alone sitting by a piano, to working Signature’s intimate ARK stage, with a voice so calm, you can almost hear the waves of the imaginary nearby sea. In telling Penelope’s story, Phillips blends comedy and sorrow, presenting the details of her character’s lonely existence, and her uncertainty of Odysseus’s return.

With drink in hand, Phillips shines through the swinging “Drunk Iliad,” in which she talks cabaret-style about the Trojan War, waiting for her husband’s return, and her life as a mother to Telemachus and keeper of Ithaca. We also learn of the suitors vying for her hand, hoping to take over the kingdom if Odysseus never makes it back.

Those suitors give rise to one of the things that Penelope is famous for — her weaving. She tells the men that when she has completed her shroud, she will choose someone. But each night, the savvy free thinker undoes all she has created, only to start on a new work each day. Phillips conveys a playfulness in Penelope’s trickery, but you can see the sadness that hides underneath as she stays steadfastly true to her husband.

Songs such as “Prayer” and “Night” show that sorrow, and Phillips captures every nuance of the emotion that the lonely wife bears — and wow, what a voice. Director Steinmetz has Phillips roam the stage as if she’s performing a cabaret, but her sways and subtle movements mirror the harsh sea that Odysseus is facing, and there seems purpose for every change of space.

Ben Moss (piano), Erika Johnson (percussion), Jennifer Rickard (violin), Imelda Tecson Juarez (viola), and Susanna Mendlow (cello) provide beautiful backup for Bechtel’s compositions, but they also sing background on occasion and give voice to the goddess Athena. Mendlow especially commands attention, drawing our ears and eyes to her playing. Whether performing haunting songs like “A Very Long Wait” and “By the Fire,” or the jazzy “Lose My Mind,” the quintet is extraordinary.

Paige Hathaway’s scenic design says a lot in a little space. The cabaret stage is backed by mountains, illuminated by Jesse Belsky’s incredibly colorful sunrises and sunsets as the days pass, but we also get glimpses of the sea, Penelope’s bedroom, and the castle as a whole.

Though the story of The Odyssey has been told countless times in different ways, Penelope provides a fresh take on one of its often underrepresented characters. Penelope’s cleverness, patience, and resilience is on full display in this highly entertaining musical — and Phillips’s performance is epic.