Penelope

(Siren Theatre Company)

This one act play was staged at the TAP Gallery, a location which I guess is as entertaining in its environment as the productions in the small performance space. The night we attended we enjoyed hot chocolates served in Parisian style coffee bowls snug amongst a library of books and galleries of paintings whilst looking upon men positioned in a semi circle as they created paintings of a nude female model. The walk from this space to the performance area was via a tight corridor with exposed cabling and other material that made me think of the passages to London's underground during the blitz. (No, I wasn't alive during the blitz but I've seen numerous films set in the time.)

Penelope is based on the final chapter of Homer's 'The Odyssey' and portrays four men competing to win the heart of the mysterious woman of the title and thus escape certain death. The setting is a swimming pool and the four men are dressed in swim wear.

I enjoyed some aspects of the play but my concentration lagged during the solemn soliloquies each of the actors gets to deliver.

I suppose it was a bit over my head at times.

★★1/2