Eurydice

Eurydice is a retelling of the story of Eurydice and Orpheus through the lens of playwright Sarah Ruhl's relationship with her father.

A Tragedy in Three Movements

Movement One: We are introduced to two young lovers, Eurydice and Orpheus. Eurydice misses her father, who has passed on to the Underworld and will not be able to attend her wedding. Eurydice is approached by the Nasty Interesting Man. Eventually, he lures her away from her wedding and she dies trying to escape from him.

Movement Two: We are introduced to the Stones, a Greek chorus of the Underworld who observe the dead. The King of the Underworld, a child riding a tricycle, asks for Eurydice's hand in marriage. Eurydice connects with her father as he teaches her how to remember who she was while living, as well as how to speak, read, and write.

Movement Three: Orpheus journeys to the Underworld to save Eurydice and bring her back home. The King of the Underworld has grown to be a ten-foot man, and asks for Eurydice's hand in marriage once again. Orpheus and Eurydice are unsuccessful in their attempt to bring her back home. The play ends on a somber note, with all of the human characters forgetting who they were and how to communicate.

Design Approach

In this piece, each movement has a distinct new style introduced within some if not all of the characters. That being so, I wanted to ensure that the Underworld felt like a different realm than the living in the first movement. To a lesser extent, I wanted the third movement to feel different from the second movement by introducing over the top costumes which each bring a new, dynamic shift in emotion to the scene upon entering.