PENELOPE

music and lyrics by ALEX BECHTEL book by ALEX BECHTEL, GRACE MCLEAN & EVA STEINMETZ directed by EVA STEINMETZ

Alex Bechtel Orchestrator, Author

Buffy Cardoza Props Designer

Daniel Kelly

Oona Curley+

Music Director

Lighting Designer

Rebecca Kanach+ Costume Designer

Jo Fernandez* Stage Manager

Palmer Hefferan+ Sound Designer

Casting Calleri Jensen Davis (James Calleri, Erica Jensen, Paul Davis)

Ligature Creative

PENELOPE was developed, in part, through the Founders’ Club Residency as part of the Orchard Project (www.orchardproject.com), Ari Edelson, Artistic Director.

This production is supported in part by SHS Foundation

Byron and Siew Thye Stinson; Dan Kramer and Judy Mogel

*Appearing through an Agreement between this theatre, HVSF, and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

+Represented by United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829 of the IATSE.

**Member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, a national theatrical labor union.

The videotaping or making of electronic or other audio and/or visual recordings of this production and distributing recordings or streams in any medium, including the internet, is strictly prohibited.

A re-imagining of the story of The Odyssey from the point of view of a character often relegated to the margins of the story, Penelope is a musical love letter to all those who wait: For someone they love. For something they believe in. And hope that the wait will end well. An intimate and explosive music theater piece, Penelope invites the audience to join in a ritual act of storytelling to release the pent-up grief, anger, love and longing that are so familiar after the last three years.

“So here is why I write what I do: We all have futures. We all have pasts. We all have stories. And we all, every single one of us, no matter who we are and no matter what’s been taken from us or what poison we’ve internalized or how hard we’ve had to work to expel it—we all get to dream.”

— N.K. Jemisin

PENELOPE began in the summer of 2020 as an album, conceived and composed by Alex Bechtel. Forced to quarantine in separate cities from his romantic partner, he found himself writing pieces from the point of view of the waiting wife who lives in the margins of Homer’s ODYSSEY Alex would send me demos and I had the great pleasure of offering thoughts and feedback, serving as a sort of informal dramaturg on the music.

That fall, the two of us developed a regular practice of what we called “Thursday office hours,” drinking wine and eating pizza on my front porch (and crying sometimes too), while we imagined a future when we might be able to turn his album into a show. Three years later, it is such an honor to be experiencing that dream, premiering our live production under the beautiful Hudson Valley tent.

For me, PENELOPE holds the grief of the pandemic — being stuck at home, mourning global cataclysm, wondering who and what would survive. But the show also holds a healing salve.

During lockdown, when theater disappeared and previously unshakable parts of my life and identity slipped away, I didn’t miss elaborate sets or showy stage tricks. I didn’t miss the spectacles; I missed the people. I missed the music and the stories and the feeling of togetherness. I missed the impossible act of collective imagination, when the sound of a melody or a simple human gesture would suddenly transport me to another time and space.

So, we’ve put all the people front and center. The first page of the show’s script reads, “No matter how theatrical the container of the piece becomes, it should always retain the feeling of a group of musicians playing an evening of songs for an audience. No matter what: The musicians exist in the space with Penelope, as does the audience. If this is a dream, it’s one we are all having together.” Penelope is simultaneously the lead singer in a band and the main character in a play. She’s in her house and also on a stage. While she invites you to cast your mind back to an old and familiar classic, she does so on her terms, and insists that you see things from where she’s standing (which, turns out, is right here; right now).

Eva Steinmetz

Eva Steinmetz is STOKED to be under the tent for the first time. A Philadelphia-based theater and film director, her work straddles the ordinary and extraordinary. Most notably she directed and co-wrote The Appointment with Lightning Rod Special. Other collaborations include Josephine Decker, Alexandra Tatarsky, Theatre Horizon, The Polyphone Festival, Sarah Knittel, Tommy Butler, and Johana Kasimow. As Artistic Producer for the Pig Iron Theater Company, she’s developing Digital, Film, & Interactive performances.

Whether you’re a longtime fangirl of Homer and his epics, you’ve read some Madeline Miller, or you have no idea what I’m talking about, I truly believe you have all the information you need to go on our musical journey with Penelope. Bring your grandma. Bring your daughter. Afterwards, ask them what images came to mind when Alex’s beautiful instrumental compositions filled the space. Share a piece of yourself you lost once.

In many ways, this show is a tribute to the things we miss and the lives we wait for—to the wide horizons that fill our hearts with longing. It’s also about the journey of the everyday; the ways we grow and discover, even when we’re stuck in one place. As we continue to grapple with pain and dream of better futures, as we spend our lives learning the same lessons over and over again, we all have healing work to do.

Pick up your HVSF merch tonight! Located near concessions.