Missed opportunities abound in Ensemble Theatre’s ‘The Penelopiad’ Bob Abelman Cleveland Jewish News, The News Herald, The Morning Journal Margaret Atwood’s book “The Handmaid's Tale,” which was turned into an Emmy Award-winning TV show in 2017, is set in a brutally repressive near-future patriarchy formerly known as the United States. There, young women referred to as Handmaids are stripped of their names, identities and rights, and ceremonially raped. At the center of the story is a woman determined to use her intelligence to survive this world and regain her sense of self. A similar theme, contemporary applicability and brand of feminism is evident in the author’s 2005 novel “The Penelopiad” which, in 2007, was turned into the compelling play currently being mishandled by Ensemble Theatre. For more of this review, go to: www.clevelandjewishnews.com/columnists/bob_abelman/