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align=center><FONT face=Georgia><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; LETTER-SPACING: 0.15pt"><FONT
color=#202020>Missed opportunities abound in </FONT></SPAN></B><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial">Ensemble Theatre’s
‘</SPAN></B><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; LETTER-SPACING: 0.15pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
color=#202020>The Penelopiad</FONT></SPAN></B><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial">’</SPAN></B></FONT></P>
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face=Georgia>Bob Abelman</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'></SPAN></P>
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align=center><I><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face=Georgia>Cleveland Jewish News, The News Herald, The Morning
Journal</FONT></SPAN></I><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'></SPAN></P>
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face="Times New Roman"></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal
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face=Georgia><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: "><FONT color=#202022>Margaret
Atwood’s book “The Handmaid's Tale,” which was turned into an Emmy Award-winning
TV show in 2017, is set in a </FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ">brutally repressive near-future patriarchy
formerly known as the United States.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>There, young women referred to as Handmaids are stripped of their names,
identities and rights, and ceremonially raped. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>At the center of the story is a woman
</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none; BACKGROUND-REPEAT: repeat; BACKGROUND-ATTACHMENT: scroll; BACKGROUND-POSITION: 0% 0%; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial"><FONT
color=#222222>determined to use her intelligence to survive this world and
</FONT></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ">regain her sense of
self.</SPAN></FONT></P>
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style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: "><FONT face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><FONT
face=Georgia><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ">A similar theme, contemporary
applicability and brand of feminism is evident in the author’s </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ">2005 novel </SPAN><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; LETTER-SPACING: 0.15pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
color=#202020>“The Penelopiad” which, in 2007, was turned into the compelling
play currently being mishandled by Ensemble Theatre.</FONT></SPAN></FONT></P>
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style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; LETTER-SPACING: 0.15pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
color=#202020 face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
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face=Georgia><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'>For
more of this review, go to: </SPAN><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
color=#0000ff>www.clevelandjewishnews.com/columnists/bob_abelman/</FONT></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>