Interactive Design:
On Stage
City Garage Theater's The Penelopiad (2022)
City Garage Theater's 2022 production of The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood featured 12 custom togas of my design.
The Penelopiad is a retelling of The Odyssey from the perspective of Penelope. It covers her birth through the return of Odysseus from his journey, the slaughter of the suitors, and the hanging of her handmaids. The majority of the production focused on Penelope's relationship with her handmaids, the sacrifices they make to protect her, and her ultimate failure to protect them.
My toga design is a sheer lingerie piece made to drape softly across the body, imitating the look of of an ancient Greek statue. Two ties to fasten it lend it versatility for styling, and quick, elegant, and easy changes.
The sheer, tie-on garments were utilized very effectively throughout the production; adding emphasis to scenes where the titular character and the handmaids are undressed.
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Before young Penelope is married to Odysseus, her handmaid's undress her, using the quick and easy shoulder tie to let the toga fall to the ground before she steps into her wedding gown.
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The use of nudity and the staging of having others undress her adds impact to the deep feeling of vulnerability felt by a young, frightened Penelope before her wedding day, and the thousands of women over generations who faced those same fears while being sold by their own fathers like cattle.
The sheer, revealing lingerie nature of the togas is also used to emphasize the image of the handmaidens. They are perceived as promiscuous, treated as objects, and forced to labor for others their entire lives. Their objectification and dehumanization are also expressed through their transformations throughout the play. They also act as a group of ducks, a ship, and sacrificial animals. The group of them dressed identically emphasises their lack of individuality and personage in the eyes of others as well as the unity of a traditional Greek chorus.
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Eventually their dehumanization and objectification lead to their sexual assault by Penelope's suitors, their poor treatment from Telemachus and Euryclea, and their murder at the hands of Odysseus, the supposed savior they and Penelope have been waiting for.
The united look of nearly the entire cast in black was effective not only in tying Penelope and her handmaids together in grief, regret, and despair, but also in excluding Helen. Helen is dressed in white the entire time and never expresses remorse for her actions, even in the afterlife. She is depicted as lascivious and selfish, and has no regrets for the war she caused, the lives she ended, or the personal destruction of Penelope's life she wrought. In contrast, Penelope only wears white at her wedding, while she is still young, optimistic, and naive. The older version of Penelope, who has taken responsibility for her handmaids, her house, and the suitors destroying both, wears black.
Penelope's handmaids suffer the wrath of Odysseus.
Read the Stage Raw review of this production by Amanda L. Andrei here.
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Learn more about the City Garage Theater on their website.
Production Photos from City Garage Theater