Critical Analysis of Mona Eldahshoury Performance in The Penelopiad
In this critique, we will analyze the performance of the actress Mona Eldahshoury—in her role as Penelope—during the The Penelopiad. We will start by observing how she falls within Stanislavski's system. Next, we will move forward with analyzing the performance. We will take a moment to appreciate the actress's concentration. Followed by observing her ability to convey the inner monologue of the character. Additionally, we will observe her ability to embody the subtext with the lines of the Penelope. Last will be a general overview of the performance and my thoughts on it.
Penelope wants to inform the audience by sharing her life story but she is limited by her status in life. She wants to inform the audience of the struggles a woman, born during this period, would endure. Penelope conveys that, at this time, life revolves around men. She was not born a boy, but she gained value in her ability—to potentially birth a grandson. She was married off at an age that was far too young. At fifteen, she was still a child; however, since her role in life was to produce a son, her age wasn’t much of a concern. The way Penelope learned of her purpose in life made it apparent that this was the typical way life went. The women in the story stated the facts of life and culture with spite; nevertheless, they were such established facts that the older women imposed them on the younger ones. The entire play is from Penelope’s perspective. Starting with her childhood, she directs the audience through her life. She fleshed out the story by sharing her perspective on individuals and the feelings behind those opinions. Throughout the entire play, she acted as a guide, steering the audience through her experience on earth. She tried to convey the injustice imposed on women, but it was from her outlook on life. As the play progressed, Penelope introduced the audience to the twelve maids. These maids contributed so much in life and suffered considerably more than Penelope. The twelve gave so much for their king and queen. Despite this, they were evicted from life—by the man they strived for—as though they only borrowed their breath. In life, Penelope could have done more to ensure their survival. In death, guilt plagues her, but the maids still feel like an afterthought. Penelope pleaded with the maids—questioning why they would not leave her and Odysseus be. However, it does not take that much consideration to understand why they might be upset. Penelope was sensitive to the suffering of others, but she displayed a degree of callus to the suffering of women. It appeared that she equated her situation to the suffering of all women despite women of lower classes suffering much worse fates. Ultimately, her outlook was more informed by her life than the observation of others’ lives.
Concerning the performance, I did not notice any unnecessary tension; however, it was difficult to observe without being sucked in. The portrayed emotions were so real that they made me emotional. When Penelope cried, I was concerned; and when she yelled, I was unnerved. Something that was super notable was how the actress walked around speaking to individuals in the audience. When she made eye contact, it was very intense. At one point, I was trying to reassure myself that I was still watching a play. I struggled to stay seated in reality since the reality the actors were in felt so real. As I was dealing with these thoughts, the actress approached my side of the audience and made eye contact. It erased my thoughts and immersed me back into the play. Watching something for entertainment has never manipulated my emotions the way this production did. The Penelopiad left me with a sense of anxiety that remained until the next day. Portraying emotions, cementing me in the performance, and influencing my emotions, each appeared effortless for the actress.
Concentration would fall under something that felt natural. The actress performed the lines so well that each line carried emotion with it. Interestingly, the feelings conveyed by the actress were very complex, such that it is impossible to describe them with words like happy or sad. The positioning on the stage was excellent. The actress seemed like she was at home despite the performing area representing numerous different locations. Lastly, the actress was very aware of her position in respect to individuals and props. The play must have required a lot of concentration. However, I was not aware of it—because of the immersion. That said, retrospectively, it was apparent that an incredible amount of focus went into the performance. When a professional athlete plays a sport, it looks natural for them. Behind that appearance are large amounts of practice. The concentration of Mona Eldahshoury looked natural.
When considering inner monologue, the moment that stands out to me is when Penelope questions her maids about why they still torment her and what they want. Penelope displayed a lot of desperation while pleading for the answer. Her desire to learn made me question how she could not understand their anger. A possible inner monologue at this point might have been, “What do they possibly stand to gain from this? Why can’t they move on?”. This moment in the play leads me to question if Penelope truly understood the sacrifice of her maids. She certainly felt guilty that her maids died but her reaction, in life, to this information felt lacking. She might have considered them as daughters; however, deep down, Penelope knew them as servants. Would a mother have asked what she asked? How could a mother not consider how things could go badly for her daughters when Odysseus (a man who kills people) returns home? Moving on to subtext, Mona Eldahshoury utilized subtext very effectively! Every word had a deeper meaning behind it. The ability to derive the subtext and put it into words is difficult for me. However, I was able to sense it. The lines behind the lines fleshed out the play.
The whole experience had me in awe. The incorporation of comedy was very enjoyable. Additionally, the sounds and lighting took the emersion to the next level. The emotions that I felt during the play were surprising. I do not typically care about the outcome of shows because I know it is just a show. However, this performance had me so entrenched in the reality of The Penelopiad that I was worried about the characters—such as the maids. Watching this play took me on a curious adventure of knowing how the story goes but exploring it from an unknown angle. I would not change a thing. I like realistic costumes. However, if the costumes had been more realistic, I would have gotten even more entranced, and the emotions I felt would have been more intense. They were not particularly happy emotions.
The Stanislavski system was visible during Mona Eldahshoury’s entire performance. Determining the true objective of the character was difficult—since I easily get sidetracked by other components of performances. After considerable thought, I concluded that Margaret Atwood aimed to educate the audience about women’s struggles while using Penelope and other characters as a vessel. This conclusion led me to consider Penelope’s objective to be similar. It was with this line of thought that I arrived at the statement, “Penelope wants to inform the audience by sharing her life story, but she is limited by her status in life”. The performance and every other component of the production were excellent. In conclusion, Mona Eldashoury did an extraordinary job in her role as Penelope.
