Penelope, of Ithaca
Play Description
Combining the Greek myth of Penelope awaiting the return of her husband, Odysseus, with modern tales of life in Ithaca, New York, Kenny Finkle uses his renowned sense of whimsy and humanity to explore our need to be loved.
Production Info
Cast: 4 total (2 female, 2 male)Full Length Drama (about 110 minutes)
Minimal Set Requirements
Contemporary Costumes
- Reviews
- About the Author(s)
- About the Book
- Special Notes
Press Quotes
“… a new play is the lifeblood of a thriving theater, and Ithaca has been especially blessed of late with new plays. Finkle has set the bar high. To capture some piece of the spirit of a place and its inhabitants, while reworking a well-worn story, pulling apart notions of heroism, bravery, sacrifice, faithfulness and love this one story has come to embody … All this is sketched lightly, almost breezily, for it is the launching pad for Finkle’s deeper purpose. What does it mean to wait, to be a woman with an M I A husband, raising their son? To become defined by a first, all encompassing love that never had time to mature? To be wound up tight against feeling, against even acknowledging loss, grief? As the older Penelope negotiates these questions, the play takes on depth, color, urgency … When finally it all begins to unravel, the breaking flood of desire, hurt and hope she displays is breathtaking. Her partner in this dance is the man not chosen … Their ebb and flow as a couple … is subtle, mercurial and enchanting. [The play] glimmers with many facets of beauty and a smart elucidation of the awful requirements of love.” —Ross Haarstad, Lansing Star
A beautiful modern romance, PENELOPE OF ITHACA explores the complexities of time-tested love. With her soldier husband lost at war, Penelope’s loyalty is put to the test as she struggles to reconcile her undying love for Odysseus with the uniquely human need to be loved in the here and now.” —Stephanie Miller, Lansing Star
Author(s)
Kenny FinkleKenny Finkle's plays include INDOOR/OUTDOOR (Off-Broadway @ DR2, SPF, Trinity Rep, Portland Stage, Hangar Theatre) ALIVE AND WELL (Old Globe, Virginia Stage Company), PENELOPE OF ITHACA (Hangar Theatre), TRANSATLANTICA (Flea Theatre, Operating Theatre Company), A THOUSAND YEARS (FIU Theatre Festival), JOSH KEENAN COMES OUT TO THE WORLD (high school tour — Hangar Theatre), SYD ARTHUR (Keen Company/Keen Teens). INDOOR/OUTDOOR and PENELOPE OF ITHACA, A THOUSAND YEARS are published by Broadway Play Publishing. ALIVE AND WELL and TRANSATLANTICA will be published by BPPI in 2015. INDOOR/OUTDOOR is also published in Smith and Kraus' "Best Plays of 2006" anthology. SYD ARTHUR is published by Samuel French. He is a recipient of a NYFA fellowship, a NYSCA grant, was awarded University of Illinois' Inner Voices prize and has received commissions from Ford's Theatre, Virginia Stage Company, Theatreworks, USA, Canton Theatricals, Matt Murphy Productions, Keen Company and the Hangar Theatre among others. He received his MFA from Columbia University's Playwriting Program and his BFA from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. He is an Adjunct Professor of Theatre at Marymount Manhattan College as well as a Teaching Artist for the DreamYard Project in the Bronx. Finkle is working on a graphic novel musical experience for audiences of 3 entitled U R STAR. The piece has been work-shopped at the Orchard Project and will continue development this fall at A.R.T in Cambridge.
Special Notes
If original stage producers credits appear in bold below, all licensees are required to include them in the following form on the title page in all programs distributed in connection with performances of the Play and in all advertising in which the full cast appears in size of type not less than ten percent (10%) of the size of the title of the Play:
In addition, the following must appear within all programs distributed in connection with performances of the Play:
by special arrangement with Broadway Play Publishing Inc, NYC
www.broadwayplaypub.com