Episode 298: Edinburgh Festival Series - Penolope

It’s the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2026 series Elaine chats with Broadway star Grace McLean about her new show Penelope which is currently running at this years Edinburgh Fringe Festival. PENELOPE UNDERBELLY COWGATE 5-30 AUGUST 15:45 (65 MINS) PENELOPE “A myth reimagined through longing, love and lockdown, this bold new musical comes to Edinburgh Fringe direct from New York City” Penelope, a striking new concert-theatre musical starring its co-creator and Broadway star Grace McLean (Suffs, Alice By Heart, Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812), comes to Underbelly Cowgate this summer following a celebrated development journey across the United States. Blending contemporary sound with ancient myth, Penelope retells the story of Odysseus’ wife from Homer’s Odyssey, not as a passive figure of loyalty, but as a vivid, complex woman navigating isolation, desire and resilience. Set across a single day of waiting, the show is by turns heartbreaking and sharply funny, with a distinctive musical language described as “Philip Glass meets Joni Mitchell.” The piece began life as a concept album written during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, when composer and lyricist Alex Bechtel (Poor Judge, The Appointment) found himself separated from his partner and drawn to Penelope’s enduring story of distance and devotion. In collaboration with performer Grace McLean and director Eva Steinmetz (Poor Judge, The Appointment), the work has since evolved into a 65-minute musical for one performer and a three-piece band. rigor + ruckus produce. With its urgent emotional core, inventive score and magnetic central performance, Penelope offers a fresh, deeply human perspective on one of mythology’s most enduring figures, a story of waiting, wanting, and reclaiming your own narrative. The musical has recently been awarded a prestigious 2026 Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theatre. Plans are underway to premiere the show in New York. Tickets - https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/penelope OUR WEBSITE - www.persistentandnasty.co.uk IPA GUIDES: HIPA GUIDES Equity Toolkit: Link Stellar Quines: Link Persistent Pal & Nasty Hero - Pals and Hero Membership Email – [email protected] Instagram - @persistentandnasty Twitter - @PersistentNasty Coffee Morning Eventbrite - Coffee Morning Tickets LINKTREE - LINKTR.EE Resources Samaritans - Rape Crisis Scotland - Rape Crisis UK ArtsMinds - BAPAM Freelancers Make Theatre Work Stonewall UK - Trevor Project - Mermaids UK Switchboard LGBT+ - GATE PLANNED PARENTHOOD DONATE - DONATE ABORTION SUPPORT NETWORK UK - ASN.COM- DONATE