Archive of "Eurydice"
By Sarah Ruhl
David Thayer Theatre
February 2010
| Creative Staff | |
|---|---|
| Director | Sarah Ballema |
| Scenic Designer | R. Eric Stone |
| Costume Designer | Renee Bell |
| Lighting Designer | Paul M. Collins |
| Sound Designer | Andrew Stewart ☆ |
| Stage Manager | Michelle Martin |
| Dramaturgs | Christine Scarfuto & Justin Dewey |
| Cast | |
|---|---|
| Eurydice | Deanna Brookens |
| Father | Kevin Buford |
| Orpheus | Andres Enriquez |
| Little Stone | Maggie Jones ☆ |
| Loud Stone | Brynne Dickie ☆ |
| Big Stone | Kristi Starnes |
| Nasty Interesting Man | John Watkins |
| ☆ denotes undergraduate student |
Who but Sarah Ruhl would put the god of the underworld on a tricycle?
The UI Department of Theatre Arts proudly presents a fully staged production of Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice, a humorous and very contemporary re-telling of the myth of Orpheus, this time from his lost love’s point of view. Sarah Ballema directs a production that demands impossible settings (such as raining elevators) and acute attention to some of the most poetic language ever seen from an American playwright. Eurydice opens on Thursday, March 4th and runs through Saturday, March 13th. The performances will take place in the David Thayer Theatre, located in the UI Theatre Building, along the Iowa River. Come usher in the spring by seeing a story that is sure to charm, surprise and delight.
Sarah Ruhl, a Pulitzer Prize finalist and 2006 MacArthur Fellow, turns the lens of a well-known tale to focus on the story of Eurydice rather than that of Orpheus. On the day the young couple marries, a man lures Eurydice away, claiming to have a letter for her from her dead father. She follows the stranger, but an accident sends her hurtling into the Underworld. Ruhl raises the stakes further by introducing a new character: Eurydice’s father, who is trapped in the Underworld. This quirky, loving man gives Eurydice a reason to stay, so when Orpheus appears to escort her back to their life, Eurydice must decide whether to leave her beloved father or return to the land of the living.
Sure to surprise even the most seasoned theatre goers, Eurydice brings a new, refreshing aspect to an ancient, glorious myth. Typically, Sarah Ruhl’s scripts are filled with unique and very personal stage directions giving readers (and actors) an inside perspective of the writer’s intent. At the beginning of the play, Ruhl describes the opening scene: “The set contains a raining elevator, a water pump, some rusty exposed pipes, an abstracted River of Forgetfulness, an old-fashioned glow-in-the-dark globe. The underworld should resemble the world of Alice in Wonderland more than it resembles Hades.” Ruhl’s plays present a beautiful and imaginative landscape for designers, for actors and for audiences. Eurydice has truly raised the bar on the possibilities of theatre and imagination.
“Like all fine poems, songs, and paintings, it’s a love letter to the world...a magical play...among the most moving moments I can remember seeing on a stage.” Charles Isherwood, New York Times