Female power and the ability to exercise it in the shadows as an act of political resistance, subverting the classic perception of the myth, at the center of «The song of Penelope», the fourth appointment of the sixth edition of the Mythos Troina Festival, one of the most prestigious theater events in Sicily directed by Luigi Tabita. The monologue directed by Marcello Cotugno, with music performed live by Antonio Tavassi, will be presented as a national preview tomorrow at the Amphitheater of Radura di Troina (Enna).
Adaptation of the novel of the same name by Margaret Atwood (Rizzoli), it stars Lunetta Savino as Penelope, wife of Ulysses, no longer a patient and silent woman, but a protagonist aware of her own history, a symbol of intelligence, autonomy and resistance. «It was this new interpretation that convinced me to interpret the text – Savino reveals to us -. In a festival that puts the women of myth at the center, we decided to stage a very fascinating, moving and funny text by Atwood, which tells the “Odyssey” from Penelope’s side, starting from her childhood. The thing that is immediately striking is, for example, the fact that when she meets Ulysses she is only 15 years old, and it is interesting to follow the story of their meeting through the eyes of this little girl who has not been doing very well since childhood, with her father even trying to kill her. We get up to the departure of Ulysses and her loneliness, because in the meantime twenty years have passed and she, alone in Ithaca, will have to roll up her sleeves and deal with everything, even the invasion of the Suitors with everything that follows and is known”.
The monologue therefore returns a resilient and active female figure, especially with regards to the famous trick of the canvas.
«In fact, you ask that it not be called cloth, but a shroud, invented with the complicity of the handmaids. This element of female solidarity is new and is never told. The myth can be interpreted in many ways, but this detail of the handmaids is no small element.”
It is in fact an unprecedented trait, also an integral part of the female narrative of Atwood, author of the acclaimed novel “The Handmaid’s Tale”, which has come back into vogue thanks to the television series of the same name…
«The handmaids often return in his writing and are strong protagonists. Also in this text there is their voice entrusted to the songs of Antonio Tavassi which intersperse Penelope’s oral story with a series of ballads, some cheerful, others more sentimental. It is an all-female story, even with very heartbreaking moments, such as the killing of the same handmaids upon Ulysses’ return.”
«The song of Penelope» is therefore a current text, especially in these times of feminicides and abuse of women. What work did you do to render Atwood’s words?
«When something is written well you simply have to enter into those words, respect and in a certain sense interpret the author, giving those changes of register that are already suggested, because there is irony, emotion, but also the description of the hero in very human terms. Ulysses is portrayed as a not very handsome man, and Helen’s presence becomes the funniest part of the text, because she is the seductress par excellence, Penelope’s antagonist, completely the opposite of her.”
Can Penelope’s story be a further confirmation of the relevance of Greek myths and the universality of the feelings represented?
«There is the whole mythological part which is very fascinating, but they are stories very close to us also as archetypes that reveal attitudes and situations that are very current today, from the relationship between man and woman to the relationship with the son, as in the case of Penelope with Telemachus, who is not allowed to be the master of the house while the father is away. They are therefore typically human themes and passions of all times.”
The show is produced by the Mauri Sturno Company with the Mythos Troina Festival. The stage dress is made by Maison Enrico Coveri.
