UCI Drama Presents Margaret Atwood’s THE PENELOPIAD
A NEW PERSPECTIVE: CONTINUING UCI DRAMA’S YEAR OF WOMEN
UCI Drama Presents Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad
Irvine, Calif., January 17, 2020 – UC Irvine’s Claire Trevor School of the Arts (CTSA) presents Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad, a retelling of Homer’s The Odyssey from the perspective of Penelope, Odysseus’ wife. The production boasts an all-female cast portraying both the female and male roles, incorporating quick on-stage costume changes and a myriad of characters. The show opens in the Claire Trevor Theatre on Wednesday, Feb. 5, with matinee and evening performances through Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020.
Focusing on Penelope and her twelve maids, Atwood presents the audience with a female point of view. Her take on this classic tells a story of sisterhood, teamwork, and betrayal. From this new perspective, the audience experiences a female power that only comes from the collective presence. The Penelopiad examines the cost of Odysseus' epic pursuit of heroism. In this case, it is a wife, a child, and an entire community.
Margaret Atwood’s writings reimagine the concept of a dystopian society and how it emphasizes misogyny, oppression, and environmental havoc. Her novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, from 1985, has struck a core with current audiences, so much so that it has developed into a Television series adaptation on Hulu and has been the face of many protests regarding abortion rights. Incorporating Atwood’s The Penelopiad into this year’s show list represents a push towards integrating more women in art and a celebration of female influence.
The Penelopiad is the third installment in UCI Drama’s sixth themed season, “Women & Co.” A Centennial Celebration of Women’s Right to Vote. The Department of Drama pays tribute to women artists and their voices. Five of the productions in the series are written by women. Women will direct four out of the six mainstage shows. The majority of drama graduate students and doctoral students are women. And the majority of all drama undergraduate students in the Claire Trevor School of the Arts are women. Please come and join us in experiencing, exploring, and celebrating our many diverse female artists.
Performances and Ticket Information
Claire Trevor Theatre. Parking: 4000 Mesa Rd, Irvine, CA 92617
Evening: Feb. 5 at 7:30 p.m.
Evenings: Feb. 6, 7, 8 at 8:00 p.m.
Matinees: Feb. 8, 9* at 2:00 p.m.
General Admission $18 / Seniors & Groups 10+ $15 / UCI Students & Children under 17 $11. Box Office (949) 824-2787 or www.arts.uci.edu/tickets.
The UCI Drama production team will host a post-performance TalkBack on Feb. 9th after the 2 p.m. matinee with the creative team and cast.
About UCI Claire Trevor School of the Arts: As UCI’s creative laboratory, the Claire Trevor School of the Arts explores and presents the arts as the essence of human experience and expression, through art forms ranging from the most traditional to the radically new. The international faculty works across a wide variety of disciplines, partnering with others across the campus. National-ranked programs in art, dance, drama, and music begin with training but end in original invention. Students come to UCI to learn to be citizen-artists, to sharpen their skills and talents, and to become the molders and leaders of world culture. For more information, visit www.arts.uci.edu.
About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UCI is the youngest member of the prestigious Association of American Universities. The campus has produced three Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UCI has more than 30,000 students and offers 192 degree programs. It’s located in one of the world’s safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County’s second-largest employer, contributing $5 billion annually to the local economy. For more on UCI, visit www.uci.edu.
Media access: Radio programs/stations may, for a fee, use an on-campus ISDN line to interview UCI faculty and experts, subject to availability and university approval. For more UCI news, visit news.uci.edu. Additional resources for journalists may be found at communications.uci.edu/for-journalists.
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