When writing this play, Uršuľa Kovalyk was inspired by the Greek myth of Penelope. In myth, Penelope is considered the prototype of the obedient wife, who waits a long twenty years for her husband, Odysseus, to return from war. During her husband’s absence, a hundred suitors profess their interest in her, and she rejects everyone. She says that she will marry one of them once she finishes weaving her late father-in-law’s burial shroud. As we already know from the myth, Penelope weave by day and undoes her work by night. Why is it still important to study myths today? The past resonates inside us, and the ancient stories still exist within us, albeit in a different form than that which we know. How and why does Penelope still resonate today? What do we still have in common with her? How does the woman who spends her entire life waiting for something feel? Are we not, in a way, all Penelopes? What are we waiting for?

Author: Uršuľa Kovalyk
Director: Iva Š.
Stage dressing and Costumes: Miriam Struhárová, a. h.
Masks: Michaela Zajačková, a. h.
Music: selection
Movement coaching: Anna Gromanová, a. h.
Video: Andrej Brummer
Assistant Director: Jaroslav Voľanský
Setting: BDNR ateliers under the lead of Katarína Mažáryová
Lights: Pavol Bukovina
Sound: Marek Horváth
Photography: Dodo Šamaj

Cast:
Marianna Ďuranová
Ivana Kováčová
Marianna Mackurová
Terézia Šusteková, a. h.
Matúš Hollý

Premiere: May 18, 2022
Length: 70 minutes (no intermission)

peneLope is the first performance in a new dramaturgical line from BDNR – a project titled
Flexxila (Ancient Myths in Present Day). Flexxila, as an intellectual and artistic association,
will focus on reinterpreting mythological stories for a contemporary world.

The project is realized in collaboration with Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica.
Realized with the financial support of the Banská Bystrica Self-Governing Region.