Margaret Atwood's "The Penelopiad"

John C Anderson
Stroke Survivors Tattler

Margaret Atwood's "The Penelopiad"

7:30 PM

Saturday, Mar 30 – Sunday, Apr 21, 2013

Location: Citadel Theatre, 9828-101A Avenue NW
City:     Edmonton
Venue:    Citadel Theatre
Details:  The Original Desperate Housewife
Category: Theatre
Tickets:  tickets.citadeltheatre.com …
By Phone: 780.425.1820 
Link:     www.citadeltheatre.com …

The Penelopiad is Margaret Atwood’s brilliantly theatrical retelling of the classic Greek tragedy, Homer’s The Odyssey – as told by Penelope and her twelve maids, the forgotten victims.

The Penelopiad From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The Penelopiad is a novella by 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 during the Odyssey, life in Hades, Odysseus, Helen, and her relationships with her parents. A chorus of the twelve maids, whom 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.

The novella's central themes include the effects of story-telling perspectives, double standards between the sexes and the classes, and the fairness of justice. Atwood had previously used characters and storylines from Greek mythology in fiction such as her novel The Robber Bride, short story The Elysium Lifestyle Mansions and poems "Circe: Mud Poems" and "Helen of Troy Does Counter Dancing" but used Robert Graves’ The Greek Myths and E. V. Rieu and D. C. H. Rieu's version of the Odyssey to prepare for this novella.

The book was translated into 28 languages and released simultaneously around the world by 33 publishers. In the Canadian market, it peaked on the best seller lists at number one in Maclean's and number two in The Globe and Mail, but did not place on the New York Times Best Seller List in the American market. Some critics found the writing to be typical of Atwood, even amongst her finest work, while others found some aspects, like the chorus of maids, disagreeable.

A theatrical version was co-produced by the Canadian National Arts Centre and the British Royal Shakespeare Company. The play was performed at the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon and the National Arts Centre in Ottawa during the summer and fall of 2007 by an all-female cast led by director Josette Bushell-Mingo. In the winter season 2011/2012, the show will be given its professional Toronto premiere by Nightwood Theatre, with an all-female cast led by director Kelly Thornton and starring Megan Follows as Penelope.

See the full article The Penelopiad From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.


Margaret Atwood From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Atwood at Eden Mills Writers' Festival 2006,
Blackwattle Bay

Margaret Eleanor Atwood, CC OOnt FRSC (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist. She is among the most-honoured authors of fiction in recent history. She is a winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award and Prince of Asturias award for Literature, has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize five times, winning once, and has been a finalist for the Governor General's Award seven times, winning twice. She is also a founder of the Writers' Trust of Canada, a non-profit literary organization that seeks to encourage Canada's writing community.

While she is best known for her work as a novelist, she is also a poet, having published fifteen books of poetry to date. Many of her poems have been inspired by myths and fairy tales, which have been interests of hers from an early age. Atwood has published short stories in Tamarack Review, Alphabet, Harper's, CBC Anthology, Ms., Saturday Night, and many other magazines. She has also published four collections of stories and three collections of unclassifiable short prose works.

See the full article Margaret Atwood From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.