The UK Première of Penelope by Sir Tom Stoppard

Tom Stoppard composed Penelope on commission from the late composer André Previn. In it, Penelope, the wife of the Greek Homeric hero Odysseus, recalls and reflects on her husband’s twenty-year absence at and return from the Trojan war. It was set to Previn’s music and sung by Renée Fleming in its US première in Tanglewood in 2019.
Stoppard has since experimented with it as a read monodrama, and as such, it was given its first UK performance in this fundraising event for Classics for All. It was filmed by Hat Trick Productions at Cazenove Capital and broadcast online on Monday 6th December 2021.
The première commences with a lively discussion on Penelope in Homer and her reception through the ages, chaired by Martha Kearney (BBC Radio 4 Today programme) with Sir Tom Stoppard and Dr Emma Greensmith (St John's College, Oxford). Hattie Morahan then gives Penelope its first UK performance.
We offer our special thanks to Cazenove Capital for sponsoring this event.

[@katefleming4691]

Another Penelope, she has endless voices and this one was fascinating. Thank you