STOA Culture welcomes its first theatre production with “Penelopes and Penelopiades – The Loom”

This summer, a new cultural landmark comes to life in the heart of Athens. STOA Culture, the newly activated open-air atrium of the historic Arsakeio Arcade, launches its programme Summer in the Atrium, transforming the city centre into a vibrant meeting point for theatre, music and contemporary culture. The first theatrical production to be presented in the space is a new project by the renowned Theatre of Art Karolos Koun: Penelopes and Penelopiades – The Loom, directed by the theatre’s Artistic Director, Marianna Kalbari.

Premiering on 29 June and continuing every Monday at 21:00, the performance revisits Homer’s Odyssey from a perspective that has long remained unheard: that of Penelope and the countless women whose stories were left untold. Through an original blend of storytelling, live music, movement and textile art, the production explores the social control imposed upon female sexuality from antiquity to the present day.

At the centre of the stage stands a loom created and performed by Phoebe Vlassi, not merely as a tool of weaving but as a living musical instrument. Its rhythmic sounds become the pulse of the performance, intertwining with original texts, myths, traditional and contemporary songs. Marianna Kalbari appears as a modern rhapsode, while Christina Sougioultzi embodies the female body negotiating the roles, expectations and identities assigned to it.

The production is further enriched by the garment and visual collaboration of Marietta Karpathiou and the cultural fashion brand ’ergon, whose creations transform fabric into a carrier of memory, transformation and cultural identity. Lighting design is by Stella Kaltsou, with Angelos Bouras contributing to direction and scenographic development.

Beyond the performance itself, The Loom marks the beginning of a wider collaboration between STOA Culture and the Theatre of Art Karolos Koun. Set within the historic Arsakeio Arcade, a landmark currently being reimagined as a destination for culture, gastronomy and urban experience, the partnership aims to create new forms of performative encounters in the centre of Athens.

Returning to the Odyssey only to unravel and reweave part of its narrative, Penelopes and Penelopiades – The Loom asks difficult questions about the myths that have shaped perceptions of womanhood for centuries. What has traditionally been celebrated as fidelity, virtue or wisdom may also conceal stories of silence, submission and survival. Through the loom’s repetitive movement, the performance stitches together a new song: not only the story of the hero who returns, but also the stories of the women who endured in silence and now reclaim their voice.