Penelope, Hampstead Theatre

Penelope, Hampstead Theatre | reviews, news & interviews

Penelope, Hampstead Theatre

Enda Walsh’s new play about the wife of Odysseus is brutally humorous

by Aleks SierzThursday, 17 February 2011

Male rivalry: Aaraon Monaghan and Karl Shields in ‘Penelope’ Robert Day

Men. They say these strange creatures never leave the playground. Even when the years have passed, boys stubbornly remain boys, chatting rubbish, competing manfully and finally burning out. In Enda Walsh’s Penelope, which was a hit at the Edinburgh Festival last year and now visits London, four men compete for the love of one woman, and they are as likely to be found bickering over a small barbecued sausage as they are to be seen fighting to the death with knives. The only question is: can they also work together?

Although he is a “fat man in Speedos”, he is capable of launching a thousand poetic words

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