Lovely Cheeks Dissolved in Tears

2024

Penelope's Odyssey - 10 New Songs from the bedroom

Lovely Cheeks Dissolved in Tears

Her face was melting, like the snow that Zephyr

scatters across the mountain peaks; then Eurus

thaws it, and as it melts, the rivers swell

and flow again. So were her lovely cheeks

dissolved in tears. She wept for her own husband,

who was right next to her (19, 204-211).

Epic Greek storytelling meets experimental bedroom indie pop in a new performance concert about Penelope and Odysseus - told from Penelope’s point of view.

Inspired by Homer’s Odyssey, LOVELY CHEEKS DISSOLVED IN TEARS is a coming-of-middle age story that gives voice to the classic poem’s unsung heroine. Conceived as a performance concert, the performance is situated at the crossroads of genres (experimental bedroom indie pop, concert, visuals, epic poetry and movement) and shifts the narrative away from Odysseus and grand narratives of war, relocating the focus on Penelope and the micro narrative of the women holding down the fort at home while asking the audience to consider: who is the true hero of this story?

In LOVELY CHEEKS DISSOLVED IN TEARS Penelope finally takes centerstage — at an age when most women are expected to step out of the limelight and fade into the chorus — and we watch a woman grow not because of her romantic relationship, but in the absence of it.