Penelope

Photo: Michael Brosilow
Steppenwolf Theater

This year's theme at Steppenwolf is "Dispatches from the Homefront." So far, I am experiencing a different theme, "Plays that are confusing and frustrating, but get better on reflection."

Part of it is the after-play discussion which is incredibly enriching. But, the same person has lead the discussion for both plays and he sort of strikes his own path of exploration, away from the point of the play. With Clybourne Park we talked about race. But, the play was really about the power of gentrification and changing neighborhoods. This play was about time and what we devote ourselves to and we talked about love.

The play was one of the most frustrating things I've seen when the curtain fell. It wasn't like Mee or Pinter, that sort of frustrating. Rather, it seemed irrelevant and vapid. But, as I was eating my late night pizza I started to really gather some enthusiasm for it.

Let me tell you about it, first. The play is based on Homer's Odyssey. Specifically, it is based on the suitors of Penelope in the Odyssey. Let's go to Wikipedia, it says it as well as can be said:

Under the pretext of courting Penelope, the suitors proceed to spend their days at Odysseus' house, and feasting on the livestock...After Odysseus returns home, he kills all of the suitors.

The play is set in this situation, but in modern day. There are four suitors left out of 100. Time has passed, approximately 10 years, and it's the end of a long, long party. The suitors are spending their days in an empty, dry swimming pool. The last piece of meat (livestock) gets heated up and eaten in the morning by one of the suitors on a grill that doesn't work. The men wear speedos and bathrobes and carry towels.

Remember, these are the men who didn't go to war. We are watching the winners of the loser's club. These are men with nothing better to do for 10 years, who didn't go and defend their nation, who don't have families to take care of. Their greatest strength at this point is that they have outlasted more than 90 other suitors. None of them have the prize, Penelope. Their victory is perseverance.

Long ago, they sold their boats for booze. They could still stay on the island and do something else, but their ability to leave the island has been curtailed.

So, is this play about love for Penelope? No. It's not. All four of the characters give monologues and express love for something else. Is it about perseverance? In a way. But, it is definitely not the perseverance of Love in the Time of Cholera. It is not tinged with reward or nobility. It is shameful perseverance or at best perseverance for the sake of perseverance.

Let me spell it out. These men wear swimsuits to a pool that has no water. They court a woman they ultimately don't want for 10 years. They cook on a grill that has no gas. They fail to examine what makes them happy, and instead compete for a prize they don't want simply because others compete for it, too.

I think this play is about dumb competition and the challenge to examine what we really want and to not simply go along with the crowd. We want family and knowledge and friendship. Yet, each day we show up for jobs that we may not like and compete in the workplace and work for things we may or may not really want, but everyone else is buying.

I think we have to constantly update with ourselves about what we want, especially in this age of consumerism and in America our blind obedience to the American dream, whatever that is. I think it was significant the characters were in a swimming pool, pursuing an individual return. When they try and merge forces to save them all, they can't completely make the switch to a community because they are in the habit of being selfishly individualistic. They couldn't see outside of it. They got so involved in the bottom of they pool, they forgot there was an entire world outside of it. They did things through habit. They did things because others did them. They competed, because it is our nature to compete.

They had a dream that foretold of Odysseus' return and their impending death and doom. Yet, their path does not waver. They lose track of the ultimate prize of staying alive and continue on the path of death, destruction and loose, unfocused hope. I think we all do this, to some extent.

As for the acting, John Mahoney dropped out of the play. And, Tracy Letts took this place. I expected him to steal the show. He was great last season, no doubt. And, I've seen John Mahoney on stage, too, in Prelude to a Kiss. It would have been nice to see him again. My heart goes out to him, since he left because of a death in the family. Letts didn't steal the show, though. The night belonged to Yasen Peyankov. He owned this show. He had the right bravado, the right pace, the right delivery. It was his night. It's a difficult show to pull off, apparently. And, he took it.

And, the real rock star of the night was the set designer. The set was fabulous. Thank you Walt Spangler.

Steppenwolf, we'll be back. Don't worry. Ready to be frustrated again. But, ultimately triumph.