Kent Place Upper School To Present Revisionist Play The Penelopiad

Kent Place School, a non-sectarian college preparatory school for girls in Summit, NJ, is pleased to present the Upper School play The Penelopiad in the school’s Hyde and Watson Theatre on Thursday, March 3 at 7:30 p.m. and Friday, March 4 at 8:00 p.m. Admission is free.

The Penelopiad is a new and unorthodox retelling of the story of Penelope and Odysseus, adapted by Margaret Atwood from her novel of the same name. Centering on a seemingly insignificant event included in Homer’s The Odyssey, this dramatic version of the story of Odysseus’ return to his wife and son was first developed by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2007.

Drama Department Chair Bob Pridham directed the play, and gave great insight into the production process and the creativity exemplified by the entire cast and crew. “The play came to us by recommendation from members of our English Department, who introduce our students to Homer’s The Odyssey in the ninth grade. The play itself is quite new, and has not had many productions. Kent Place is among the first high schools in the United States to be given permission to present it.” He added: “Rehearsals have been a process of discovery for students and the director – the author employs many different styles of theater in telling her story, and we are constantly challenged by the need to respond to all of the different inspirations at work in the play. We are especially fortunate to have senior Ashley Villarreal in this production: taking inspiration from the lyrics provided in the text, Ashley has created all of the original a cappella choral music which is performed in the play.”

Cast and crew members of the production are Amara Balan ‘16, Lauren Burr ‘16, Anjolie Charlot ‘18, Jayla Creekmur ‘19, Sophie Dewar ‘16, Erin DuCharme ‘19, Sophia Fanelle ‘19, Sofi Faris ’18, Molly Gump ‘16, Anna Hogarth ‘19, Sabrina Hunte ‘16, Leah Miller ‘19, Erynn Murphy ‘17, Sophia Narciso ‘17, Bronwyn Olstein ‘16, Gaby Parlapiano ’16, Nicole Pavese ‘19, Lily Peterson ’16, Sarah Sadlock ‘19, Noa Segal ‘17, Sofia Tartaglia ‘19, Ashley Villarreal ‘16, and Mary Woodall ‘18.

Costumes for this play were designed by Judith Mulder, with setting by Danielle Newbury.

Please note: This play is appropriate for Middle and Upper School students.

The theater program at Kent Place is committed to the production of good theater and maintains a special focus on the creation and performance of new plays. In tri-state competitions, Upper School theater productions have received multiple awards for excellence in production and performance. For more information please visit www.kentplace.org/theater.