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She is the one played by Anne Hathaway in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, the central figure in Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad and the inspiration behind a 2010 play by Enda Walsh. And here she is again, this time alone with her thoughts, a longsuffering woman in white, in a seductive song cycle by Alex Bechtel.

Penelope is played by Broadway actor Grace McLean who brings both vocal and emotional range to the part. Drily witty, defiant and elegant, she is the wife of Odysseus, doggedly hanging on for her husband’s return long after the end of the Trojan war. Much to her annoyance – and occasional temptation – a load of suitors are camping out in her house, ready to take his place.

A dramatic challenge presents itself here: there can be little action with a character whose principal function is to wait. But, with a book credited to Bechtel, McLean and director Eva Steinmetz, things keep ticking along for most of the hour-long production for Rigor + Ruckus. Only a reflective song towards the end, in which Penelope looks back to her early romance with Odysseus, seems to tread water.

For the most part, it is a lively retelling of Homer’s tale, including Penelope’s scheme to string along the suitors by unstitching her knitting every night, although skipping over the archery contest. Bechtel’s songs nod to soul, blues and show tunes, his piano arrangements ranging from the strident to the pretty and filled out by Anna MacLean’s colourful cello patterns and Jonnie Grant’s rolling drums.

“This is why people don’t follow politics,” quips McLean, having explained the ins and outs of the Trojan war. The sassy facade slips as she rages at all the waiting, before revealing a tender side in a song of prayer and sacrifice. It is a striking performance not only of vocal control but also physical presence.

• At Underbelly, Cowgate, Edinburgh, until 30 August. Then at Underbelly Boulevard Soho, London, on 4 September.
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