Theatre Horizon, Montgomery County’s award-winning theater company in Norristown, is preparing for the regional premiere of the acclaimed one-woman musical Penelope, which begins performances on May 7.
This co-production with the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival features the return of two Theatre Horizon favorites: Rachel Camp stars in the titular role, and the show’s music and lyrics are written by Alex Bechtel. The production is directed by Eva Steinmetz (The Appointment, Poor Judge).
Penelope has been waiting … and waiting … and waiting for her husband, Odysseus, to return from a decade-long war. Given the rest of the soldiers came home years ago — forgive her, but she’s going to need a drink while she tells you about it. With a beautiful folk-inflected pop score backed by an onstage band of strings, piano, and drums led by Music Director Justin Yoder (who also plays the cello), Penelope confides in us about her loneliness, her son’s disappearance, her suitors, her gods, her faith in her marriage—and ultimately, the faith that she must have in herself. With a wit drier than your favorite martini, Penelope is a story that is both intimate and explosive.
Penelope’s music and lyrics are written by Bechtel, with a book by Betchel, Steinmetz, and Grace McLean (Broadway’s Suffs, Bad Cinderella). Set and Props design is by You-Shin Chen; lighting design is by Thom Weaver; costume design is by Nikki Delhomme; and sound design is by Damien Figueras. Randi Alexis Hickey is the production Stage Manager.
Tickets to Penelope are available by visiting Theatre Horizon’s website. Tickets are available in four price points: $30, $45, $65, and $90. Guests can select the price that fits within their budget. The box office is open Monday-Thursday, 12-5:00 PM, and during performances Wednesday-Sunday, 12-7:30 PM. To reach the box office, call 610-283-2230, extension 1.
About the Artists
Rachel Camp (she/they) is grateful to return to Philadelphia’s stages by way of Theatre Horizon, the home of her first professional theatrical adventures. This will be Rachel’s 12th production at Theatre Horizon, and her credits in chronological order include: You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown; Once on This Island; Working; Holiday Show at the Swing Club; HONK!; The Great American Songbook; The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee; Into the Woods; Lobby Hero; A New Brain; An Evening with Rachel Camp. Other credits include: Into the Woods (Arvada Center); The Sincerity Projects 1-5 (Team Sunshine Performance Corporation); Ragtime, Gypsy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Parade, Next to Normal (Arden Theater); How to Succeed…, Grease, Buddy Holly Story (Walnut Street Theater); The Bridges of Madison County (PTC); Fair Maid of the West (PAC); The Carols (1812 Productions). Camp was nominated for the 2017 Haas Emerging Artist award and won a Barrymore Award for her performance as Olive in Theatre Horizon’s Spelling Bee.
Alex Bechtel creates new works of music, theatre, and musical theatre. He is a graduate of The University of the Arts, The Pig Iron School (Inaugural Class, 2013), and a Company Member of Lightning Rod Special. Bechtel has received two Barrymore Awards for Outstanding Original Music, and Barrymores for Outstanding Music Direction and Outstanding Leading Actor in a Musical. In 2015, he was awarded an Independence Fellowship in the Arts to study with New Music composer Rachel Grimes on new approaches to the use of music in theatre. Bechtel’s musicals include Penelope (World Premiere, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival; Signature Theatre DC), The Appointment (Off Broadway: “Best of 2019” – NYTimes, Vulture, TimeOut NY; “Best of 2023” – The New Yorker), Poor Judge (World Premiere, Pig Iron Theatre Co), Peter Panto and Alice in Wonderland: A Musical Panto (World Premieres, People’s Light & Theatre Co), The Light Princess (World Premiere, Arden Theatre Co), The West, Philadelphia Nocturne, and Cheer Up, Dostoevsky. He has also composed new music for the plays of William Shakespeare over 8 seasons at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival.
Grace McLean (she/her) is a performer, writer, and composer. In addition to performing on Broadway (Suffs; Bad Cinderella; Natasha, Pierre….), Off-Broadway and Regionally (MCC, LCT3, The Public, Vineyard, La MaMa, BAM, Weston Playhouse, ART, WTF) and TV (The First Lady [Showtime], The Other Two [HBOMax]). She also writes and composes for theater (Penelope; Lunar Eclipse; The Apiary; In The Green, Richard Rodgers, Lortel Awards) and film (Marina, Gotham Award; The Photographer; Our Mine, Best Score Brooklyn Film Festival, Black Bear Award for Best Score Athens International Film Festival). She toured Pakistan and Russia as an artistic ambassador with the US State Department and released her first full-length album, My Lovely Enemy, in May 2024 with Rolling Stone calling her “avant-garde” tracks “brilliant.” Lincoln Center Writer-in-residence, Vivace Award (’23), Larson Grant (’21), Broadway Women’s Fund’s Woman to Watch (‘21), Civilians R&D Group (‘19-’20), MacDowell Fellow (‘18), Lincoln Center Emerging Artist (‘17).
Eva Steinmetz (she/her) is a Philadelphia-based theater director, filmmaker, and educator. She has directed and co-created more than a dozen new works including Poor Judge (Pig Iron Theatre Company), Penelope (Alex Bechtel & Grace McLean), The Appointment (Lightning Rod Special – two-time NY Times Critic’s Pick; Time Out NY Critics Pick; New Yorker “Best of 2023;” 6 Barrymore nominations, including Best Director), Sad Boys in Harpy Land (Alexandra Tatarsky), Art Houses (Theatre Horizon), The Caregivers (Pig Iron), Hart Island Requiem (Ty Defoe & Tidtaya Sinutoke), Wolfthicket (Lily Kind), and Krapp Hour (Anne Carson & Lightning Rod Special). Her short film, Marina, starring Grace McLean and Succession’s Peter Friedman, received a Gotham Award and distribution through Focus Features. Steinmetz was also a performer/creator in Josephine Decker’s acclaimed movie, Madeline’s Madeline. In collaboration with her producing partner Tommy Butler, Steinmetz is currently developing her own first feature-length films. Steinmetz serves as Artistic Producer for the Pig Iron Theater Company, creating digital and live performances, and piloting educational and workshop-based initiatives. She is a graduate of Bard College (BA, theater directing), the Pig Iron School (Graduate Certificate, devised performance), and Temple University (MFA, film).
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