Penelope sits and waits for Odysseus to return, 19 years spent keeping suitors at bay and anticipating the moment he appears.

Caroline Horton’s Penelope Retold was a one-woman show which invigorated the ancient story with research into the experiences of military wives and a slick instinct for stage technology.

Precariously perched on an island bed, Penelope connects with a universal hardship of being the partner who is left behind and the expectation on women to smile and keep house through loneliness, frustration and withdrawal.

Horton’s performance was engaging; switching between moments of rage, vulnerability and tenderness with ease. Her writing was clear and powerful, subtly understanding the mixture of abandonment and hope.

The solo show format worked well for this story, with Horton reaching out for microphones and audience members to aid the storytelling; the absence of fellow performers highlighting Penelope’s solitude – alone with her imagination.

However, Penelope’s story as it stands is a brief narrative – she waits – meaning that the piece lacked a sense of resolution.

More could have been employed theatrically to lead the audience through Penelope’s experience – expose us to the agony of waiting ourselves, or draw us more into the real lives of the military wives she interviewed.