Fall 2021 — experimental

Directed By Selin Yalcinkaya ‘22

Written by Sarah Ruhl

Eurydice, by Sarah Ruhl, is an experimental, reimagined take on the classic Greek myth, Orpheus and Eurydice. In this retelling, Eurydice is no longer a passive figure in this story; instead, she is the driving character who takes fate into her own hands. Eurydice asks, how do we remember what we have lost without being trapped in our own grief?

This play is a katabasis, a word frequently used in Greek mythology to describe a descent into the underworld. In Eurydice, we follow our heroine into the underworld as she confronts her own understanding of love, loss and grief as a young woman. As a result, we, too, come to understand our own ideas about these subjects that have never been more relevant than they are today.

Beyond the more obvious themes of loss and grief, Eurydice is also a coming of age story. The titular character must navigate life-changing decisions regarding familial versus romantic love, sexuality, and the extent to which she can give up a part of herself for the man she loves. At the end, we see the detrimental effects of the title character’s inability to let go of the memory of her dead father. At the same time, we watch Eurydice make an empowered decision to prioritize her own happiness over the gendered expectations to marry at this time period.