Penelope (Enda Walsh play)

Penelope is a 2010 tragicomedy play written by Irish playwright Enda Walsh. The play concerns the attempts of four men seeking to win over Penelope in the absence of her warrior husband, Odysseus, who has been away for the previous twenty years fighting the Trojan wars.

Plot synopsis

The play opens with the four men, Fitz, Burns, Dunne and Quinn, in an empty swimming pool, going about their daily lives with only Burns seemingly at odds with his environment. There is a blood stain on the wall which we learn was caused by the suicide of a fifth man, Murray, only the day before. Burns attempts to scrub away the blood to no avail. A barbecue stands towards the rear of the pool, it has never been lit and is the source of great curiosity and some fear by the men. In a shared dream they see it lighting heralding their death at the hands of Odysseus. Penelope, separated from the men, stands on a platform above and unseen from the pool. A television screen relays the successive addresses by the men for her perusal in a contemporaneous nod to reality television formats. Each man hopes to win her affections through their monologues. But as the day wears on signs and premonitions of Odysseus’ return grow more ominous and they formulate a plan to work together in order that one of them may succeed in winning Penelope, thus saving the others from Odysseus’ revenge.

In a final sequence Quinn performs a quick-change cabaret routine to the music of ‘Spanish Flea’ and ‘A Taste of Honey’ by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass as the others aid his performance. Variously Quinn costumes himself as male and female lovers of exceptional note —such as Napoleon and Josephine and Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara— it is when he strips down to his toga, as Eros the Greek God of Love, that he is stabbed by Burns. Dunne and Fitz take part in the stabbing and Quinn is killed. Burns makes a final address to Penelope in which he argues for their collective redemption through love and human affection. Burns concludes his speech with the words “love is saved”^[1] and at this moment "the barbecue goes up in flames. As their dream predicted, it begins from its legs and quickly spreads to the rest of the frame and grill" thus signalling the deaths of the men as above them Penelope withdraws from the stage "and into her new future".

Selected productions and awards

Penelope (2010) - OberhausenTheater: RUHR.2010, Druid Theatre Company, Galway.^[2] Winner of Irish Times Theatre Awards Best Supporting Actor Award for Mikel Murfi. Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh Festival (Fringe First winner 2010). World Tour included Helsinki, New York and London. Steppenwolf Theater, Chicago (2011). The Canadian premiere was produced by Rumble Theatre^[3] in Vancouver, British Columbia (2013).

References