In Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, Penelope, the wife of warrior king Odysseus, plays the role of the good woman as she waits 20 years for her husband to return from battle, all the while rejecting other suitors as she weaves (and unravels) a burial shroud. A model woman and wife, she represents fidelity and ingenuity in this male-led society.
In A Good Woman, dancer/choreographer Nerissa Tunnessen and violinist/writer Samantha Xiao Cody craft an intimate portrait of Penelope through monologues, poetry, music, and movement. Tunnessen is a recent graduate of Vassar’s undergraduate history department, while Xiao Cody holds degrees in Physics and Creative Writing from Princeton University and is pursuing her MFA at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Together they penned the evocative script that tumbles forth with Penelope’s longing for her absent husband.
At center stage, a draped object resembling the triangular shape of a loom is revealed to be simple wooden pallets and bar stools hidden beneath gauzy fabric. Tunnessen’s ease-filled movement reflects and capitulates in the descriptions of waves and wind, sand and soil, while Ziao Cody interacts on violin interchanging harmonic riffs with atonal, sometimes staccato, trills and screeches. As Penelope unwraps and unwinds her never-ending weaving project, dancer and musician orbit each other until Tunnessen unspools string that binds them together.
Throughout the creators let Penelope revisit the idea of what being a “good woman” means in her lonely life. She struggles: “If I am good … I am good … I think only of you / You who come to me on the waves …,” she chants to her absent partner, as she connects physically with fellow sister in waiting — the musician. And in her struggle, Tunnessen and Xiao Cody posit the existential flaw of the original work, that Penelope was only good as an attendant and wife in waiting. Her own needs, desires, hopes, and dreams dismissed in favor of husband Odysseus’s public battles across the sea. A Good Woman argues for elevating the feminine voice and woman’s story — an argument as old as Homer’s ancient myths — shedding new light and fresh air on Penelope for 21st-century audiences.
Running Time: 45 minutes
Genre: Dance/Theater
Dates and Times:
- July 19 at 8:50 PM
- July 21 at 1:00 PM
Venue: Cafritz Hall, 1529 16th St NW
Tickets: $15
More Info and Tickets: A Good Woman
The complete 2024 Capital Fringe Festival schedule is online here.
