• Overview
• Staging information
• Translations
• Sample translations
• Production history

Scene

The structure of Las voces de Penélope (Penelope’s Voices) is fragmented. There are 20 sections: 19 scenes with the final scene divided in two. The stories of the women are interwoven in the scenes. The scenes are subtitled as follows:

Scene 1: Farewell Ulysses.

• Takes place in the palace of Ithaca. Features Penelope.

Scene 2: The Goodbye.

• Monologue by The Woman Who Waits.

Scene 3: Stand By Your Man

• Telephone conversation by The Friend of Penelope.

Scene 4: Take My Advice

• Features The Friend of Penelope and The Woman Who Waits.

Scene 5: I’ll Be Your ‘Baby’

• Features The Friend of Penelope and The Woman Who Waits.

Scene 6: Forgetting You Isn’t That Easy

• Features The Woman Who Waits lamenting her lover’s absence.

Scene 7: Footsteps

• Penelope walks the corridors of the palace of Ithaca.

Scene 8: The Answering Machine

• The Woman Who Waits sits by her answering machine waiting for messages from her lover.

Scene 9: Everyday Violence

• Monologue by The Woman Who Waits directed to her absent lover.

Scene 10: Sweet Death

• Penelope in deep depression; the weight of Ulysses’ absence is overwhelming her.

Scene 11: They Should be Ashamed of Themselves

• The Friend of Penelope tells of her experience of discovering that her boyfriend Carlos is cheating on her.

Scene 12: Drink, Drink, Drink

• The Friend of Penelope is getting drunk while she tries to deal with Carlos’s betrayal. The Woman Who Waits accompanies her in the bar.

Scene 13: Just Like a Lady

• The Friend of Penelope tells of how she spoke to Carlos’s new girlfriend. The Woman Who Waits is present, but silent.

Scene 14: Ithaca is a Pigsty

• Penelope in the palace at Ithaca. The palace is going to ruin, and she resolves to clean it.

Scene 15: The Traveller’s Mark

• Penelope addresses an unseen stranger. We assume it is Ulysses in disguise.

Scene 16: At the Half Moon, Fortune Turned

• Features The Woman Who Waits and The Friend of Penelope. The Friend of Penelope is typing an essay about the mistreatment of women.

Scene 17: Love Shower

• The name of The Woman Who Waits changes to The Woman Who Waited.

Scene 18: The Sentence

• Penelope and the Loom converse. The Loom suggests it become a man but Penelope refuses.

Scene 19: Far Away / Many Years Later ... What Really Happened

• First part: The Woman Who Waits reveals she left her lover after he eventually returned.
• Second part: Penelope tells her story of Ulysses’ return. The Friend of Penelope tells her story of reconciliation with Carlos. In the end, The Woman Who Waits addresses the invisible Ulysses and the women then leave the stage together.

Staging

All three women address their absent lovers in their monologues, but the men never appear on stage. The Loom remains on stage throughout.

The play is said to take place ‘in Ithaca. And in all those cities of the world called Ithaca’.

General Staging and Sound Effects

In scene 1 waves are heard crashing on the shore. On stage is an enormous blue weaving loom. Penelope unwinds a blue ball of wool.

In scene 2 The Woman Who Waits is on stage surrounded by a huge collection of odd shoes, sandals, slippers and boots. She goes around trying to pair them up.  At the end of the scene The Woman Who Waits dances and all the footwear is paired up as if invisible dancers were dancing.

In scene 3 the Friend of Penelope is smoking a cigarette.

In scene 4 The Woman Who Waits and The Friend of Penelope stand in front of a collection of little tables made out of iron covered in pictures and mementoes. One of them (it is unclear from the script which one) takes photos with a Polaroid of the mementoes around her and also of intimate parts of her body.

In scene 5 The Woman Who Waits wears a white raincoat, white high heels, black glasses and artificial leather gloves. Behind her are projected revolving images of perfumes, stilettos, luxury cosmetics and evening dresses.

In scene 7 the stage is bathed in blue light. The sound of the wind can be heard, as well as footsteps that sound like they are coming from an empty hall/palace.

In scene 8 the little iron tables have been overturned and the floor is strewn with mementoes.

In scene 9 The Woman Who Waits is surrounded with small blue fragments of transparent fabric. She smokes a cigarette. There are candles on stage.

In scene 10 we can hear dolphins splashing and swimming in the water.

In scene 11 The Friend of Penelope appears in a white coat with giant rollers in her hair.

In scene 12 The Friend of Penelope and The Woman Who Waits sit drinking on high stools leaning on an imaginary bar. There is the usual bar noise and chatter in the background.

In scene 14 cackles of laughter are heard in the palace at Ithaca. They multiply and multiply to terrifying effect.

In scene 16 The Friend of Penelope is seated in front of a computer keyboard. She is wearing round glasses.

In scene 17 The Woman Who Waits holds a watering can. Behind her is a huge projection of a flowerpot containing basil. At the end of the scene thunder sounds. The Woman Who Waits lets fall a long trail of blue earth from the watering can.

In scene 19 The Woman Who Waited (her name changes in this scene) is now wearing dark glasses. In the second section of the scene Penelope sits in a wickerwork chair.

Music

There is a considerable amount of music specified for Las voces de Penélope (Penelope’s Voices). Much of it in the early scenes is romantic, and Cuban or Mexican in style. As the play progresses, more contemporary Spanish music features.

At the beginning of scene 2 Como fue (How it Was) by Benny Moré plays. At the end of this scene we hear Somos novios (often translated as It’s impossible in English) by Armando Manzanero.

In scene 3 The Friend of Penelope mentions a song by the Catalan songwriter Joan Manuel Serrat. Serrat wrote a song called Penelope (The Friend of Penelope gets the name of the song wrong and calls it ‘Lucrecia’). Penelope is a song about a woman called Penelope waiting for her lover to return.

In scene 4 Encantada de la vida (Contented) by Benny Moré plays. The title of the song is Encantado de la vida (Contented). The ‘o’ of ‘encantado’ has been changed to an ‘a’ to indicate that it refers here to a woman and not a man.

In scene 5 Caribe Intro by Michel Camilo is heard.

In scene 6 Mambo con Puente (Mambo with Puente) by Tito Puente plays.

In scene 8 we hear a snippet from the instrumental tango tune, Libertango, by Astor Piazzolla.

In scene 9 'mechanical punk' is heard. No artist is specified.

In scene 12 a Mexican folk song plays in the background in the bar. Pascual suggests Mala bestia (Brute) by Miguel Comamala.

In scene 13 La Truhana (The Crook/Rogue) by La Lupe plays. The title specifically refers to a female crook or rogue.

In scene 17 a popular song by the 1980s/1990s Spanish pop group Esclarecidos plays. The playwright suggests the song No hay nada como tú (There’s Nothing Like You).

Cast number

Minimum	Maximum
0 males	1 male
3 females	3 females
3 (total)	4 (total)

Cast information

The Weaving Loom's voice is heard in scene 18. It is implied by the text that it is a man's voice.

Characters

• PENELOPE, Wife of Ulysses
• THE WOMAN WHO WAITS, A modern-day Penelope
• THE FRIEND OF PENELOPE, Down-to-earth modern woman
• WEAVING LOOM

Entry written by Gwynneth Dowling. Last updated on 13 November 2010.

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