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Penelope is a 2010 tragicomedy play written by Irish playwright Enda Walsh. The play concerns the attempts of four men seeking to win over Penelope in the absence of her warrior husband, Odysseus, who has been away for the previous twenty years fighting the Trojan wars. It was commissioned for the Ruhr.2010 campaign as one of six new plays based on the Odyssey.
The Ruhr.2010 campaign was the successful bid to make Germany's Ruhr region the 2010 European Capital of Culture, designated by the European Union. A part of the campaign was the project Odyssey Europa (German : Odyssee Europa), where six European authors were commissioned to write a new play based on Homer's Odyssey . The six playwrights were Grzegorz Jarzyna , Péter Nádas, Emine Sevgi Özdamar, Christoph Ransmayr, Roland Schimmelpfennig and Enda Walsh. The plays focus on different episodes and were intended to add up as a retelling of the epic. [1]
The play opens with the four men, Fitz, Burns, Dunne and Quinn, in an empty swimming pool, going about their daily lives with only Burns seemingly at odds with his environment. There is a blood stain on the wall which is to revealed to be from the suicide of a fifth man, Murray, only the day before. Burns attempts to scrub away the blood, but fails. A barbecue stands towards the rear of the pool; it has never been lit and is a source of curiosity and fear for the men. In a shared dream, they see it lit, heralding their death at the hands of Odysseus. Penelope, separated from the men, stands on a platform above and unseen from the pool. A television screen relays the successive addresses by the men for her perusal in a contemporaneous nod to reality television formats. Each man hopes to win her affections through their monologues, but as the day wears on and signs and premonitions of Odysseus’ return grow more ominous, they formulate a plan to work together so that one of them may succeed in winning Penelope, thus saving the others from Odysseus’ revenge.
In a final sequence Quinn performs a quick-change cabaret routine to the music of ‘Spanish Flea’ and "A Taste of Honey" by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass as the others aid his performance. Quinn costumes himself as male and female lovers of exceptional note, such as Napoleon and Josephine and Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara, but when he strips down to his toga, as Eros, the Greek god of love, he is stabbed by Burns. Dunne and Fitz take part in the stabbing and Quinn is killed. Burns makes a final address to Penelope in which he argues for their collective redemption through love and human affection. Burns concludes his speech with the words “love is saved,” [2] and at this moment "the barbecue goes up in flames. As their dream predicted, it begins from its legs and quickly spreads to the rest of the frame and grill" thus signaling the deaths of the men as above them Penelope withdraws from the stage "and into her new future".
Penelope (2010) - OberhausenTheater: RUHR.2010, Druid Theatre Company, Galway. [3] Winner of Irish Times Theatre Awards Best Supporting Actor Award for Mikel Murfi. Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh Festival (Fringe First winner 2010). World Tour included Helsinki, New York and London. Steppenwolf Theater, Chicago (2011). The Canadian premiere was produced by Rumble Theatre [4] in Vancouver, British Columbia (2013).
Circe is an enchantress and a minor goddess in ancient Greek mythology and religion. In most accounts, Circe is described as the daughter of the sun god Helios and the Oceanid nymph Perse. Circe was renowned for her vast knowledge of potions and herbs. Through the use of these and a magic wand or staff, she would transform her enemies, or those who offended her, into animals.
The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the Iliad, the poem is divided into 24 books. It follows the Greek hero Odysseus, king of Ithaca, and his journey home after the Trojan War. After the war, which lasted ten years, his journey from Troy to Ithaca, via Africa and southern Europe, lasted for ten additional years during which time he encountered many perils and all of his crewmates were killed. In his absence, Odysseus was assumed dead, and his wife Penelope and son Telemachus had to contend with a group of unruly suitors who were competing for Penelope's hand in marriage.
In Greek and Roman mythology, Odysseus, also known by the Latin variant Ulysses, is a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's Iliad and other works in that same epic cycle.
In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology, and it has been narrated through many works of Greek literature, most notably Homer's Iliad. The core of the Iliad describes a period of four days and two nights in the tenth year of the decade-long siege of Troy; the Odyssey describes the journey home of Odysseus, one of the war's heroes. Other parts of the war are described in a cycle of epic poems, which have survived through fragments. Episodes from the war provided material for Greek tragedy and other works of Greek literature, and for Roman poets including Virgil and Ovid.
Penelope is a character in Homer's Odyssey. She was the queen of Ithaca and was the daughter of Spartan king Icarius and Asterodia. Penelope is known for her fidelity to her husband Odysseus, despite the attention of more than a hundred suitors during his absence. In one source, Penelope's original name was Arnacia or Arnaea.
Telemachus, in Greek mythology, is the son of Odysseus and Penelope, who is a central character in Homer's Odyssey. When Telemachus reached manhood, he visited Pylos and Sparta in search of his wandering father. On his return to Ithaca, he found that Odysseus had reached home before him. Then father and son slew the suitors who had gathered around Penelope. According to later tradition, Telemachus married Circe after Odysseus’ death.
Events from the year 1996 in Ireland.
Penelope is the faithful wife of Odysseus in Homer's epic poem Odyssey.
Xenia is an ancient Greek concept of hospitality. It is almost always translated as 'guest-friendship' or 'ritualized friendship'. It is an institutionalized relationship rooted in generosity, gift exchange, and reciprocity. Historically, hospitality towards foreigners and guests was understood as a moral obligation. Hospitality towards foreign Hellenes honored Zeus Xenios, patrons of foreigners.
"Tales from the Public Domain" is the fourteenth episode of the thirteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 17, 2002. It is the third trilogy episode of the series, which had become annual since the twelfth season's "Simpsons Tall Tales", consisting of three self-contained segments that are based on historical stories. The first segment puts Homer Simpson in the role of Odysseus in the ancient Greek epic poem the Odyssey. The second segment tells the story of Joan of Arc, and the third and final segment lampoons William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet.
The Penelopiad is a novella by Canadian author Margaret Atwood. It was published in 2005 as part of the first set of books in the Canongate Myth Series where contemporary authors rewrite ancient myths. In The Penelopiad, Penelope reminisces on the events of the Odyssey, life in Hades, Odysseus, Helen of Troy, and her relationships with her parents. A Greek chorus of the twelve maids, who Odysseus believed were disloyal and whom Telemachus hanged, interrupt Penelope's narrative to express their view on events. The maids' interludes use a new genre each time, including a jump-rope rhyme, a lament, an idyll, a ballad, a lecture, a court trial and several types of songs.
Enda Walsh is an Irish playwright.
The Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards recognise outstanding achievements in Irish theatre.
Charlotte Murphy is an Irish actress best known for her role as Ann Gallagher in the BBC series Happy Valley (2014–2023).
Marietta Piekenbrock is a German art curator, dramaturge, author and a cultural manager. Her projects combine theatre, dance, performances and music with cultural history, architecture and everyday life. As an artistic manager of the Cultural Capital of Europe RUHR.2010 and Istanbul.2010, and for the Ruhrtriennale 2012-14, she invited international artists and curators to collaborate with the local cultural participants and players on developing new artistic projects in areas of radical social change. Her programmes of events and initiatives made a strong case for sustainable cultural practice. Her 2012 series of events "No Education" promoted a new discourse on the relationship between art, children and education.
Return to Ithaca is a 1946 novel by Swedish author Eyvind Johnson. It is based on the story of Odysseus as he returns home to Ithaca after the Trojan War.
Landmark Productions is a theatre production company in Dublin, Ireland. Established in 2003 by Anne Clarke, Landmark produces plays in Ireland and tours Irish work abroad. The company has an association with several Irish writers including Enda Walsh and Paul Howard, the creator of Ross O’Carroll-Kelly. Recent award-winning productions include Enda Walsh’s Ballyturk and Arlington, Conall Morrison’s Woyzeck in Winter and the Donnacha Dennehy/Enda Walsh operas The Last Hotel and The Second Violinist.
Karl Shiels was an Irish actor of both stage and screen.
Odysseus, Verbrecher. Schauspiel einer Heimkehr is a play by the Austrian writer Christoph Ransmayr, first performed in 2010. It is based on an episode toward the end of Homer's Odyssey, where Odysseus returns to his kingdom and slaughters his wife's suitors, who are called reformers in the play. Odysseus, Verbrecher was commissioned for the Ruhr.2010 campaign as one of six new plays based on the Odyssey.