Penelope and the Geese is an hourlong interdisciplinary performance piece by an all-female company. Composed by Milica Paranosic with a libretto by Cheri Magid, Penelope gives voice to the female characters in The Odyssey—and only the female characters—who were under-explored in the original text. With direction by Kristine McIntyre and set design/installations by Millicent Young, Penelope delves into thorny questions about love, desire, and absence.

Penelope And the Geese largely takes place in Penelope’s mind as she remembers, feels, loves, despairs, celebrates, and ultimately decides to tell Odysseus the truth about her life in his twenty-year absence. While she yearned constantly for his return, she also took many lovers, and wove locks of their hair into a blanket that is hers alone.  Goddesses, demigoddesses, and slaves join Penelope in singing of their own loves and losses and the way the gods have conspired to contain them. 

Penelope is sung by one mezzo-soprano (Penelope) and three or six sopranos (chorus and assorted female characters from The Odyssey). It is scored for harp, flute and cello—and those instruments' ancient twins, the Greek lyre, Greek aulos, and Serbian gusle. This juxtaposition of new and traditional instruments with  female voices creates a sound that is ancient, modern, unfamiliar and timeless all at once.'