Crystal’s Theatre Elision Presents “Penelope”
Crystal’s Elision Playhouse is the site for a unique show opening Friday, July 12, that features just one performer who puts a spin on an often overlooked character in Homer’s epic Greek poem “The Odyssey.”
“Penelope,” put on by Theatre Elision, is a musical performance that shares the perspective of the wife to Greek hero Odysseus. According to the epic poem, Penelope waits 20 years for her husband’s return from the Trojan War.
“We’re often just searching out cool material that tells great stories, tells stories about women, maybe written about women,” said Christine Wade, who plays Penelope. “We’re just really trying to center what women do in the artistic industry.”
Wade is also the managing director of Theatre Elision. She uses her 19 years of piano experience to tell Penelope’s story through song.
“With a show like this, I think that having a tale about a woman who she is waiting for her husband, and does love her husband, but it’s not really about him. It’s about her and what she’s going through emotionally,” said Wade.
Christine Wade, managing director of Theatre Elision, performs as “Penelope.”
A summary from Theatre Elision described the show as “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,” the summary continued.
Added Wade, “Women are often put in the background of history, even mythical and lore history, and so this is sort of turning that around and saying ‘that was a person too and this is what she did.'”
Performances are set to be run at 7:30 p.m. July 12, 13, 19, 20 and Aug. 2, 3, 9, 10, 16 and 17. Matinee shows are scheduled for 2:30 p.m. July 14, Aug. 2 and Aug. 11.
The Elision Playhouse is located at 6105 42nd Avenue North in Crystal. To purchase tickets and for more information, visit: elisionproductions.com/penelope.
Ellie Tulkki reporting
