July 6, 2025
World premiere of "Penelope" takes place at Chekhov Festival
The production "Penelope" – a joint project of the Yerevan S. Sarkisyan State Theatre "Amazgain" and the International Chekhov Theatre Festival – has attracted particular attention from Moscow audiences. The playwright and director, Simon Abkarian, is one of the leading figures in contemporary French theatre and also a popular film actor. A Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters of France and winner of the Molière Award, he has worked with Peter Brook, Simon McBurney and Ariane Mnouchkine. One of his most recent film roles is that of Charles de Gaulle in a biopic about the great French general, recently directed by Antonin Baudry.
Abkarian's play "Penelope" is autobiographical: as a child, he fled war-torn Lebanon with his mother, moving to the United States, while his father remained on the front line for a decade. In his reimagining of Homer's Odyssey, Abkarian brings to the stage contemporary heroes who, in our time, live within the unbearable plots of ancient tragedy – yet remain human. At the centre is Dinah/Penelope, who has been waiting for her husband to return from war for twenty years, never ceasing to love and believe. This role is performed by Narine Grigoryan, a long-standing friend of the Chekhov Festival, a renowned director and an exquisitely sensitive, powerful and distinctive actress.
The original musical score for the production was created by Tatiana Burel – a multifaceted composition brought to life by the rock band "Vanakan", whose musicians become fully fledged participants in the stage action. The expressive scenography lends epic scale to the drama set in a small house by the sea – though the true setting of this story of war and love is, in fact, the entire modern world.