Review: The Penelopiad (play) | Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Margaret Atwood gives voice to the women of the Odyssey

The second year BA Acting students at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) stage Margaret Atwood's sharp reimagining of Homer's The Odyssey. The Penelopiad plays at the Chandler Studio Theatre at RCS from 3 - 6 March 2026. Read my review below

Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad at RCS. Photo: Hope Holmes

The Penelopiad (play) by Margaret Atwood ★★★★☆

Review: 5 March 2026 | Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad is a play adapted from her novella of the same name that turns Homer's epic poem The Odyssey on its head. Like Six the Musical did for King Henry VIII's Tudor wives, Atwood gives a voice to the women of ancient Greece whose stories were similarly overlooked

In The Penelopiad, Atwood retells The Odyssey from the perspective of Penelope, Odysseus's wife. We don't follow Odysseus's glories during the Trojan War, nor focus on his arduous, long journey home. Rather this smart play considers what may have been happening on his island home of Ithaca during this time, where his faithful wife Penelope was raising their son, keeping the store cupboards stocked, and holding many aggressive suitors at bay.

The Penelopiad asserts that Penelope is deeply unsatisfied with Homer's portrayal of her and her maids in The Odyssey, and wants to tell her own version of the story. She sets out to do this from Hades (the underworld), but her narration is frequently interrupted by a Greek chorus of her twelve hanged maids, who continue to haunt her and Odysseus even in death.

Perceived as disloyal seducers of Penelope's suitors, the maids were hanged as traitors on Odysseus's return to Ithaca. But could the maids in fact be innocent victims who were only doing their Queen's bidding?

I love this kind of creative "Wait! But what if?..." storytelling that examines alternate theories to well-known tales.

Becky Hope-Palmer's pacey, intelligent production of The Penelopiad for RCS finds a satisfying balance between Penelope's lyrical narration (masterfully delivered by Caroline Grape) and the maids' interruptions and flashback dramatisations that presents their terrible tale of injustice and betrayal.

Through music and song (always a treat at RCS), a little dance, some poetry and even skipping-rope routines, the excellent cast of twelve from the BA Acting class multi-role the 12 maids and all the other parts in the play, including younger Penelope, her parents, her husband, her son, the suitors and even Helen of Troy.

It's an entertaining dark cabaret of sorts, and as is to be expected from RCS, the talent on stage is exceptional.

Aimee Goodship's Eurycleia, alongside Caroline Grape's Penelope, are two of the most powerful, haunting, complex performances I've seen this year.

The stage design for RCS's The Penelopiad in the Chandler Theatre is pretty minimal, but every actor and every prop is beautifully lit. I found Atwood's beautiful language, the direction and the performances so compelling that little else was needed to weave the furious, bewitching tale.

As you may expect from a Greek tragedy, everything is, well, tragic. You can always rely on Margaret Atwood to expose the injustices and abuse that women face, and The Penelopaid is full of her trademark dark, biting humour and uncomfortable truths.

Despite her father trying to drown her as soon as she is born, Atwood finds many heartwarming and playful moments in Penelope's life story. But make no mistake, The Penelopiad is a violent tale of reckoning and revenge.

All photos: Hope Holmes RCS