Eurydice

A story of how our experiences of love, loss, and time shape our memories and reality.

Perhaps known to some through the Broadway musical of Hadestown, the mythical love story of Orpheus and Eurydice begins (in some versions) after Orpheus bests the Sirens with his musical skills, saving Jason's Argonauts from their snare. Orpheus marries his beloved Eurydice, but she dies soon after their wedding. Not content simply to eulogize Eurydice in song, Orpheus journeys to the underworld and uses music to muzzle Cerberus, charm Charon, and compel Hades, the God of the Underworld, to release Eurydice back to the living. On one condition. Orpheus must walk ahead of Eurydice and not look back until they arrive, trusting that she is following him. Whether in happiness at their proximity to the upper world or in fear that he has been tricked by Hades and she isn't there, just as they near the threshold Orpheus turns back. Eurydice disappears, lost to him forever.

In Sarah Ruhl's version many of the elements of the story remain the same; however, Eurydice is now the main character. Wooed by the beautiful musician, Orpheus, Eurydice meets a "nasty interesting man" on her wedding day, falls down a stairwell and dies. Upon arrival in the underworld, she meets her Father, who had died before her, but she does not remember him. While Orpheus searches for a path to her, her Father attempts to (re)teach Eurydice the meaning of things, especially his love for her. Arriving in the underworld, Orpheus convinces the "nasty interesting man," who takes on the guise of a child (but all are actually Hades) to allow Eurydice to return with him but the condition not to look back remains. On their journey, Eurydice, having built a new version of life with her Father, calls out Orpheus' name. He looks back to answer and they are parted again. She returns to the Underworld and to her Father, who has dipped himself in the river of forgetfulness after she left and does not recognize her. Learning this, she also dips herself in the river, just as Orpheus arrives. Again. And Orpheus, too, finds he does not remember.

Tickets will go on sale Feb 20.