York Theatre Royal has announced a major UK revival of Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad, an adaptation of her novella that reimagines Homer's The Odyssey from a feminist perspective. Directed by Creative Director Juliet Forster, the production will run from October 10 to 24, 2026. This marks the first significant UK staging since its 2007 premiere.
York Theatre Royal is set to stage a revival of Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad, adapted from her 2005 novella. The play offers an exuberant feminist retelling of Homer's The Odyssey, centering on Penelope and her chorus of maids, who were silenced in the original myth. It explores themes of injustice, betrayal, and revenge as Penelope shares her perspective from the underworld.
The production, directed by Juliet Forster, York Theatre Royal's Creative Director, will feature previews starting October 10, 2026, with the official opening on October 14 and closing on October 24. Forster, known for directing shows like Little Women and Around the World in 80 Days-ish! at the venue, expressed enthusiasm: “Margaret Atwood is such a phenomenal writer – she’s clever, witty, subversive and her insights into human dynamics are acutely well observed. The Penelopiad is a funny, moving, fast paced, visual feast, a classical tale told through a contemporary lens. The epic, heroic story of The Odyssey will never look the same again! I am thrilled we will be staging it here at York Theatre Royal, and I can’t wait to get started on the show.”
The original stage adaptation premiered in July 2007 at the Swan Theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon, in a co-production between the Royal Shakespeare Company and Canada's National Arts Centre. Atwood, an internationally acclaimed author celebrated for works including The Handmaid’s Tale—which won the Arthur C. Clarke Award and inspired an Emmy and Golden Globe-winning TV series—and the Booker Prize-winning The Blind Assassin and The Testaments, brings her poetic and essayistic talents to this theatrical piece, her first for the stage.
Forster has an extensive directing portfolio at York Theatre Royal, including Sleeping Beauty, The Crucible, and Twelfth Night, as well as productions elsewhere like Romeo & Juliet at Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre. Tickets for The Penelopiad are available through the theatre's website.
