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Whimsical costuming, dramatic performances and gender bending abound in The Penelopiad

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Next gay theatre review: The Penelopiad

Sexual subversion strikes at Buddies. Again

01.13.2012

The Penelopiad can be praised for many things – the maturity and subtlety of Megan Follows’ performance as Penelope, the wit of the script, the clever staging, the whimsical costumes – but nothing is more exquisite than the gender ambiguity achieved during female-to-male role shifts and vice versa. And then there's some homoerotic imagery that's stimulating for straight guys, lesbians and in-betweeners. It's definitely queer despite the all-female cast and epic heterosexual storyline.

Megan Follows as Penelope is the funny girl you can take seriously. Helen of Troy (played by Pamela Sinha) becomes a self-assured temptress who challenges Penelope's insecure virginal naiveté. Their scenes take on a sitcom appeal or a Desperate Housewives feel without watering down the depth of character and storytelling inherent in Margaret Atwood's script. It becomes as contemporary as it is ancient, and the humour that bridges the context of both worlds is key. And yes, there are penises on women, too. Follows' Penelope, however, is large enough to not be choked by them.

The play is refreshing in that it is as hilarious as it is cerebral. The moments of sexual ambiguity among the maids walk the thin line that divides perfection and trying too much, and find that rare connection between comedy and tragedy. It also has that almost-there-but-not-yet phase of any orgasmic experience, where, for the most part, no one reaches the climax until Penelope says "Their legs don't move. Their still-twitching feet don't touch the ground." And everybody savours this moment till the lights fade out.

The script becomes even more meaningful as audiences witness women playing men who degrade women. In this play, the audience no longer sees just women who are victims of men, but also women who are victims of their state-of-being men. When one of the maids plays one of the suitors who rapes one of the maids, the play makes apparent that the maids have, in their submission to the domination of men -- or any aggressor for that matter -- become no different from their aggressors. They become equally responsible for the suffering of their own kind.

Director Kelly Thornton turns the serious material into delicious fare that stimulates everyone emotionally and intellectually. There's serious stuff going on when suitors bugging Penelope appear like bugs, and the maids weave the ropes that foreshadow their deaths. But when Odysseus takes us for a ride through the mind of a woman who longs for her husband, who has forced her into abstinence for 20 years, things are bound to get nutty -- to everyone's satisfaction. Thornton balances all these in such a way that audiences are easily drawn to take the exhilirating ride in and outside of Hades that eventually leaves them with much to think and smile about. More like the morning-after experience minus the regret or with thoughts of a second round.

The Penelopiad runs till Sun, Jan 29 at Buddies, 12 Alexander St. buddiesinbadtimes.com

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Youness

2/11/2012 11:10:02 PM

oh, and tell me the sreect to happiness and how to be true to yourself... definitely something that should be shared and not kept a sreect!!

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