Penelope

At the beginning of the pandemic, composer Alex Bechtel was forced to quarantine in separate cities from his romantic partner of many years. He began writing songs from the point of view of Penelope from Homer's Odyssey. Through the metaphor of that character's story, Bechtel - along with co-book writers Grace McLean and Eva Steinmetz - have created an experimental musical for one actor and a 5-piece band by turns raucous, tender, and haunting. Odysseus went off to fight the Trojan War 20 years ago, and still hasn't returned. Now, on what she hopes is the last day of her very long wait, Penelope of Ithaca takes the stage to sing of the hilarity and heartache of the last 2 decades.