The first rehearsal photographs have been released for York Theatre Royal's revival of The Penelopiad, Margaret Atwood's retelling of the Odyssey, with Amelia Bullmore as Penelope.
Rehearsals are under way in York for The Penelopiad, and the first pictures from the room, taken by Pamela Raith, have now been released. The production begins previews at York Theatre Royal on 10 October, has its press night on 14 October and plays until 31 October 2026.
It is the first major UK revival since the play was premiered in July 2007 at the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, in a co-production between the Royal Shakespeare Company and Canada's National Arts Centre. Atwood adapted it from her own 2005 novella, which tells the story of the Odyssey from the side of the wife left at home: Penelope, looking back from the underworld, with her maids as a chorus. The staging is threaded with songs.
Amelia Bullmore leads the cast as Penelope. She is best known on screen for Scott & Bailey, which she also co-wrote, Coronation Street and Riot Women; for the stage she wrote Di and Viv and Rose. Around her are Charlie Russell, a co-founder of Mischief Theatre, as Odysseus, Pena Iiyambo as Helen, Syakira Moeladi as Telemachus, Nell Baker as Laertes, Danielle Bird as Eurycleia, Faye Campbell as Melantho, Kat Johns-Burke as Antinous and Olivia Burton-Laws, in her professional debut, as Naiad Mother.
York Theatre Royal's creative director Juliet Forster directs an all-female creative team. Sara Perks designs, with lighting by Alexandra Stafford. Kate Marlais is composer, musical director and sound designer, Michelle Edwards is movement director, and casting is by Ellie Collyer-Bristow CDG.
Forster said: "Margaret Atwood's powerful script is so rich with wit and humour as she unveils a new feminist perspective on the familiar Odyssey myth. The show is interwoven with songs and exuberant movement and we hope to offer audiences an entirely different way of understanding the story of Penelope and her maids - and most importantly a great night out!"
The first preview is Pay What You Choose. The run also includes a BSL-interpreted performance on 16 October at 7.30pm, an audio-described matinee on 22 October at 2pm (touch tour 1pm) and a captioned matinee on 24 October at 2.30pm.
