CHARACTERS: Eurydice Her Father Orpheus A Nasty Interesting Man/The Lord of the Underworld. Context:Eurydice has reconnected with her dead Father in the Underworld. For Ruhl, in the theater space must yield to imagination, not, as in film, the other way around. ORPHEUS: In addition to the five Shakespeare titles "As You Like It," "Hamlet," "Measure for Measure," "The Taming of the Shrew" and "Coriolanus" ASC will also stage Sarah Ruhl's ethereal comedy "Eurydice," Lauren Gunderson's witty and moving recounting of the creation of the First Folio, "The Book of Will" and the holiday favorite, Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." Orpheus With contemporary characters, ingenious plot twists, and breathtaking visual effects, the play is a fresh look at a timeless love story. With contemporary characters, ingenious plot twists, and breathtaking visual effects . Ruhl made several changes to the original myth's story-line. In the third movement, Orpheus arrives at the gates of the underworld, singing a song so powerful it makes the Stones weep. You would be lonely for music. At the beginning of the second movement, there is no set change, but "the movement to the underworld is marked by the entrance of stones":[18] Little Stone, Big Stone, and Loud Stone, who serve as a chorus. The houses of your neighbors look dull and lacking in moonlight. The Lord of the Underworld is so impressed by Orpheus' singing, he agrees to release Eurydice. A luminous retelling of the Orpheus myth, lush and limpid as a dream where both author and audience swim in the magical, sometimes menacing, and always thrilling flow of the unconscious." EURYDICE: And music. - The New Yorker, "Exquisitely staged by Les Waters and an inventive design team [] Ruhl's wild flights of imagination, some deeply affecting passages and beautiful imagery provide transporting pleasures. Maybe you should make up your own thoughts. EURYDICE, by Sarah Ruhl This play is a fresh take on the ancient myth of Orpheus, the beautiful singer who braves the terrors of the underworld to rescue Eurydice, the girl he loves. Sarah Ruhls plays include In the Next Room, or the vibrator play, The Clean House, Passion Play, Dead Mans Cell Phone, Melancholy Play, For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday, The Oldest Boy, Stage Kiss, Dear Elizabeth, Eurydice, How to Transcend a Happy Marriage, Orlando, Late You'll have to sign in before you share your experience. Sarah Ruhl (1974-), born in Wilmette, Illinois, was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2005 and a MacArthur Foundation fellow in 2006. EURYDICE: Shut up! Do not fail to notice that his face flushes pink like a brides when you kiss him. [3][4] It next was presented at Yale Repertory Theatre, New Haven, Connecticut, in September 2006 to October 14, directed by Les Waters, with Maria Dizzia (Eurydice) and Joseph Parks (Orpheus). They gaze out at the immense sea so that we, the audience, are obviously distanced from their world. Any suggestions? Sarah Ruhl (1974), born in Wilmette, Illinois, was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2005 and a MacArthur Foundation fellow in 2006. I'm 21 years old, blond hair, blue eyes (you could say I am the girl next door type) I want to find some new material that is not overly used in the audition room. Its tension and void will collapse with the revelation that even the gift of speech and song is a prison house. The Father, dressed in a grey suit, reads from a letter. He wraps string deliberately around her fourth finger. If Orpheus walks out of the underworld, says The Lord of the Underworld, Eurydice will follow him. Ruhl, Sarah. Will you remember my melody under the water? She misses a few notes. Yannick Nzet-Sguin oversees the December 4 transmission, leading Aucoin's evocative music and an immersive new staging by Mary Zimmerman. :NC#sWLZ1M,Z@P(uZxf+G?Q []$j"xTrC/o"+WVAd32(lNB$gT More Invisible Terrains: Sarah Ruhl, Interviewed by Wendy Weckwerth, Theater 34.2: 28-35. But I still love you, I think. InEurydice, Sarah Ruhl reimagines the classic myth of Orpheus through the eyes of its heroine. I mean--Yes. EURYDICE: She then dips herself in the river. EURYDICE: << /Length 5 0 R /Filter /FlateDecode >> EURYDICE: ORPHEUS: If Ruhls aesthetic is troublesome, perhaps it is because she so effectively exposes our own underlying pretensions. In Eurydice, Sarah Ruhl reimagines the classic myth of Orpheus through the eyes of its heroine. New York, NY, Ages 12-17: Camp Broadway Ensemble @ Carnegie Hall He finds Eurydice's letter. She earned her MFA at Brown University, where she drafted Eurydice in 2001; it premiered in Madison in 2003 and made its New York premiere off-Broadway at Second Stage Theatre in 2007. Im bad at remembering melodies. Eurydice arrives in the Underworld in the raining elevator. EURYDICE: Gods and Dolls: Sarah Ruhl Reimagines the Orpheus Myth, The New Yorker, July 2, 2007. http://tinyurl.com/q7stnks, accessed July 24, 2015 You would be lonely for music. Inside his head there is always something more beautiful.Orpheus said the mind is a slide ruler. There is one condition: If he turns to look at her, they will be separated forever. He forgets to eat when hes cranky. Because it makes youa larger part of the human community. . They make a quarter turn and he makes a sweeping gesture. I was afraid. So people want to stick around. With a libretto by Sarah Ruhl, adapted from her acclaimed 2003 play, the opera reimagines the familiar tale from Eurydice's point of view. The play was directed by Bijan Sheibani with the cast that featured Osi Okerafor and Ony Uhiara.[17]. The story focuses on Eurydice's choice to return to earth with Orpheus or to stay in the underworld with her father (a character created by Ruhl). With Eurydice, Ruhl focused on condensing her already lyrical language into a music-friendly length. This tool is unavailable at the moment. Eurydice's father, who takes her to meet Orpheus, gives the same warning to her. "Doubt" by John Patrick Shanley. Orpheus said the mind is a slide ruler. Start: Orpheus never liked words. Sarah also adapted the play into the libretto for an opera, Eurydice by Matthew Aucoin, which premiered at the L.A . Surely not--surely not the sky and the stars too. Character: Mrs. Givings, Dr. Givings' wife. Eurydice returns hoping to be reunited with him, but the Stones cruelly declare, He cant hear you. Orpheus returns once more through the raining elevator, and he too has forgotten. Eurydice. Eurydice and Orpheus should be played as though they are a little too young and a little too in love. Scripts and rental materials are not included in this estimate. 2006. The cost and license availability quoted are estimates only and may differ when you apply for a license. Court the companionship and respect of dogs. However, when Big Stone directs us to pretend for a moment that you understand the language of stones, the line suggests that some people may not understand all that the playwright is trying to convey. Audiences are at once struck by the sound of falling water. It can fit around anything. The Stones try unsuccessfully to stop them, because the dead are not allowed to remember their past or speak in human language. Sarah Ruhl has adapted her play "Eurydice" with composer Matthew Aucoin for a Los Angeles Opera production premiering Feb. 1. He makes a gesture of giving the sea to Eurydice. Her awards include a MacArthur Fellowship, and her book of essays 100 Essays I Don't Have Time to Write was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Her father and she slowly rebuild their former emotional bond, sharing unconventional definitions for words. Show:EurydicePlaywright: Sarah RuhlStyle: ContemporaryGenre:DramedyLength:1-2 minutes, Character: EurydiceGender: FemaleAge: Teenager/Young Adult, Scene: Second Movement, Scene 16Setting:The String Room in the Underworld. We make it real nice here. 3. Show me your body, he said. [1][2] The play next was produced at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, California, in October to November 14, 2004. She starts to cry, and so her Father does something extraordinary: he constructs a room of string. She escapes him, her letter in her hand. Eurydice is a 2003 play by Sarah Ruhl which retells the myth of Orpheus from the perspective of Eurydice, his wife. Orpheus also sends her a copy of the Complete Works of Shakespeare by attaching it to a piece of string, and Eurydice's father reads to her from King Lear. Ruhl showcases multiple forms of love through . Dying too young on her wedding day, Eurydice must journey to the underworld, where she reunites with her father and struggles to remember her lost love. I hope he finds you. Matthew Aucoin and Sarah Ruhl's new opera Eurydice, which premiered at LA Opera in 2020 and opens at the Met this fall, turns the classic myth on its head. It made me sad to watch a father try so hard to make something useful, necessary, and even fun out of practically nothing, just empty space, a bit of string, and an old umbrella. "J]kC. The Stones command that she keep walking, but she wants to go back to the Father. Eurydice- Sarah Ruhl. Now . ORPHEUS: I thought it should be right or wrong. Eurydice Paperback - January 1, 2008. Sarah Ruhl's 2003 . Emily Grim finds the sweetness and sorrow in Eurydice, a young woman led astray by her innocence and cruelly doomed to forget the essence of her being. Its opening at the Met was postponed because of the Covid 19 pandemic. EURYDICE: Dear Orpheus, I'm sorry. Whatever makes you happy. He picks up the letter which he can no longer read. It is easy to imagine an elevator that transports people from the upper to the lower world, from life to death; likewise rain connects sky to earth. She has been the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship and the PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award for a distinguished American playwright in mid-career. A full list of Sarah Ruhl's plays. His breath will propel him, and he will be swept to the underworld. - San Francisco Chronicle, RELATED ARTICLES ON BREAKING CHARACTEREnglish and American Sign Language Share the Stage in Production of Eurydice, An Ode to Sarah Ruhl's EURYDICEby Andrew RejanOctober 18, 2016. Nor does she want to live without her father. But only one thing at a time. Character: Eurydice Gender: Female Age: Teenager/Young Adult. Advertisement. A Comic Impudence Softens a Tale of Loss", "Theater Review. Like most of the dead, she has dipped herself in the river and lost her memories. It will fly you up into the sky. Mything Persons, The Village Voice, June 19, 2007. http://tinyurl.com/pxhow7o, accessed July 24, 2015 Sarah Ruhl's plays include In the Next Room, or the vibrator play, The Clean House, Passion Play, Dead Man's Cell Phone, Melancholy Play, For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday, The Oldest Boy, Stage Kiss, Dear Elizabeth, Eurydice, How to Transcend a Happy Marriage, Orlando, Late . The most noticeable of these changes was that in the myth Orpheus succumbs to his desires and looks back at Eurydice, while in Ruhl's version Eurydice calls out to Orpheus (causing him to look back) perhaps in part because of her fear of reentering the world of the living and perhaps as a result of her desire to remain in the land of the dead with her father. EURYDICE: Female monologues from published plays? Walking behind him, she speeds up and calls out his name. In Movement One, the reader or the audience see their engagement and their wedding, which is not mentioned in the myth. 2007 Second Stage Theater Production (Joan Marcus), Strong Role for Leading Woman (Star Vehicle), English and American Sign Language Share the Stage in Production of Eurydice, Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella (Broadway Version), 2003 recipient of the Whiting Award for Drama. Wrote her first play, The Dog Play, in Paula Vogel's class. When she tries to descend his high staircase, she falls and descends into the underworld. Age Range: 20's. Summary: 'In the Next Room (or the vibrator play)' is a comedy about marriage, intimacy, and electricity. Unlike Eurydice in Movement One, he does not have an umbrella to shield him from the rain inside the elevator. EURYDICE: This is a monologue done entirely without irony, or if there is any, it's a self-reflective sort of irony from Tilly's perspective, not the actor's. Sarah Ruhl's notes in this play say "do not be afraid of sincere melodrama" and I think this monologue is very much the height of that. 3. He had. Uncomfortable, Eurydice leaves. Studied English literature with the intention of becoming a poet. ORPHEUS: an old-fashioned glow-in-the-dark globe. ORPHEUS: Tonight, the Metropolitan Opera in New York City plays host to a new iteration: Eurydice, based on a 2003 play by Sarah Ruhl. March 4, 2017. Despite the sadness of the classical myth, the contemporary adaptation lends a sense of wonder and hope to the deeper themes of death, love, and loss. Take a look below at how you can enhance your show! I Hate you! Eurydice- Sarah Ruhl Background: Eurydice is saying her final goodbye to Orpheus before she forgets him in the Underworld. ORPHEUS: He would get a funny look on his face and I would say wha. Notes: This is a very funny monologue. Share Friday, April 28, 2023 at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 29, 2023 at 7:30 p.m. Strider Theater, Runnals Directed by John D. Ervin and Kaylee Pomelow Book '19 Farewell to Strider: A Hybrid Current Student/Alumni Show and Alum Gathering An event to say goodbye to the beloved theater space on the weekend of the 46th 4.15. Eurydice pens a letter to Orpheus and his next wife, then immerses herself in the river and lies down in forgetfulness. x]rG}W FFr^6zFMH"E@b>qdnDlu]^_yQz}7)glr^,y_WejU+#?^.mZEqe~^EY\[t'EYoI1I1tA%J[D..|;}})78WN-W0}g|~'}z_ZUxa/aTI .>;Xg4Goqs$E\`2vC&UmB`8w6nc"v6qL5g~! |?V`Bpw]G#z]mT *Ps7LppA AZXn:FC[KON1bQ[fU#j_G/E=[Ch?"y - The New York Times, "Exhilarating! Shut up! (Ruhl 2006, 405). Among her most popular plays are Eurydice (2003), The Clean House (2004), and In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play) (2009). It only means one thing.Or maybe two or three things. Yet the script lends itself to such whimsical production choices: it is at once irrational, frivolous, and silly, in stark contrast to the classical origin of the myth and classical form of theater. Your hair will stand on end as it plays my music and become a hair orchestra. He had his music. EURYDICE: 1974. Show me your body, he said. 1 - The Rocky Horror Show The Nasty Interesting Man makes a sexual advance on Eurydice while she is in his apartment. This is what it is to love an artist: The moon is always rising above your house. He drops the letter as though into a mail-slot. Community. Their husbands talked too much. Eurydice does not want to marry The Lord of the Underworld. . Harsh critics accuse Ruhl of murdering the myth: Until Sarah Ruhls Eurydice, I never saw a writer make such active efforts to snuff the life out of [a Greek myth] (Feingold 2007). Orpheus journeys to retrieve his bride, but Eurydice has begun to discover that the cost of living again can sometimes exceed the cost of staying dead. World Premiere. The play had its world premiere at Madison Repertory Theatre, Madison, Wisconsin, in September 2003. Concord Theatricals . He successfully enters the underworld. Eurydice premiered in Los Angeles in February 2020 and at the Metropolitan Opera on November 23, 2021. MacArthur Fellow Sarah Ruhl begins her Spotlight Residency with the world premiere adaptation of her 2018 epistolary book, Letters from Max: A Poet, a Teacher, and a Friendship, "a resonant and profound contribution from two fully formed artists to the literature of illness" (Slate).Ruhl, whose accomplished body of work includes Eurydice and Pulitzer Prize finalists In the Next . A wonderful way to sample our latest publications, too! 1995. thing - you have a balcony - I don't have a balcony - Charles . This pretense, this false assumption of dignity, I believe, is what makes people uncomfortable and what drives negative criticism of the play: nobody likes to be called pretentious, yet the only way to comprehend the play is to pretend. Communication is thus vertical and unidirectional. But I still love you, I think. The apartment is very high up. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Sarah Ruhl (born January 24, 1974) is an American playwright, professor, and essayist. Id better tie a string around your finger to remind you. "Awash in a young writer's bracing, lucid 'Eurydice'", Review: 2004 production at Berkeley Repertory Theater, "Theater Review. Tilly's melancholy is of an exquisite quality. The narrative conceit of her amnesia powerfully intersects with the commentary on the inability of language to do anything. Ruhl gives Eurydice more agency as she . It involved hats. Join StageAgent today and unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. Sarah Ruhl. To my mind, the success of this play lies in the way it attracts and repels audiences by professing its own pretensions. Written by playwright Sarah Ruhl, the play tells the traditional myth from the female perspective of Orpheus' bride . Gentle critics notice logical inconsistencies. It can fit around anything. In Ruhl's adaptation, Eurydice (Kayla Carter) is tricked into dying by a Nasty, Interesting Man (Michael Manocchio) on the night of her wedding to musical Orpheus (Topher Embrey). bauerle97@gmail.com, 2022 Society for Classical Studies | Privacy Policy, Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl: The Power of Pretense, Outline of SCS Governance, Reports, and Official Statements, Ancient Worlds, Modern Communities (formerly Classics Everywhere), Careers for Classicists: Graduate Student Edition, Data and Reports from Professional Matters Division, List of CFPs, Society Announcements, and Other News, Recurring Programs and Publications in Classics, Handbook for Liberal Arts College Chairs and Directors of Undergraduate Classics Departments and Programs, Latin Teacher Certification Requirements (by US state), Careers for Classicists: Undergraduate Edition, Awards, Fellowships from US-based organizations, http://variety.com/2007/legit/reviews/eurydice-4-1200558476/. . Maria Dizzia as a contemporary Eurydice who descends in an elevator to the underworld in Sarah Ruhl's new play, "Eurydice," which opened last night at the Second Stage Theater. As a result, Ruhl also adds a new character, Eurydice's father. Eurydice. Maybe you could also get me another ringa gold one--to put over the string one. The Father knows what to do: he opens the book. I was working on a new philosophical system. Posted on 12 September 2017 at 11:13 (5 years ago). , The Clean House, and Eurydice. Your hair will be my orchestra and--I love you. That will do, Eurydice says as if to a stranger. As she is suspended between life and death, between father and husband, so the audience too is kept in suspense as we wait for Orpheus fatal error. Your wife just might be on the road behind you. Yup. What do you DO?! He grieves until he wills his way into the Underworld and is allowed to retrieve her on one condition, which he violates. sarah ruhl, Eurydice. (The father thinksoh, dear.) Opera; libretto; Associated Music Publishers Inc; musicsalesclassical.com; 59969 report form. The elevator is dark inside, but back-lit so as to bring the rain into full relief. She can be reached at vepagan@ufl.edu. Orpheus never liked words. The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Ruhl, Sarah. He is affectionate, then solemn, then glad, then solemn, then amused, then solemn. Eurydice marries Orpheus but then wanders off from her own wedding reception and meets a Nasty Interesting Man purporting to have in his possession a letter from her Father. He cannot read it. Full of dark humor, lyrical beauty, and wit, Sarah Ruhls Eurydice transforms a traditional myth into a visceral, contemporary meditation on love worth grieving for. The plays of Sarah Ruhl. For contemporary American playwright Sarah Ruhl, Eurydice is foremost a daughter who learns the hard way that all relationships are constructed of words that cannot always withstand the insistent tensions and demands of parents and spouses. Her dead father has advice for her wedding but his letters can't get through to the land of the living. New York, NY, Linda Ray Gradually, he teaches her how to speak again. . 4 0 obj Samuel French, 2008. And arguments that are interesting are good arguments? Love, Sarah Ruhl re-imagines the classic myth of Orpheus through the eyes of its heroine. You either hear it or you dont. It is a dangerous moment for any playwright to allude to Shakespeare and so overtly; one runs the risk of trivializing the moment with a line so familiar to the audience as to deflate the scene. Eurydice is then faced with the decision to either stay with her father or go back with her husband. Eurydice Summary & Study Guide includes comprehensive information and analysis to Synopsis: A woman tries to say a few words at her son's funeral, but when a cell phone rings, she digresses into a frustrated funny tangent about the ills of cell phones in modern life. (Ruhl play) Eurydice is a 2003 play by Sarah Ruhl which retells the myth of Orpheus from the perspective of Eurydice, his wife. The houses of your neighbors look dull and lacking in moonlight. Im not worthy of you. EURYDICE: Terribly lonely without his daughter, he decides to lose his memories instead of living with them. Start planning your production with a cost estimate you can save and share with your team. Rooney, David. She agrees to come with him to his apartment and get the letter. In Eurydice Ruhl does more than challenge the classical; she demands responsibility for the failures of language and for the pretense those failures necessitate. Her mother, Kathleen Kehoe Ruhl, taught high school English and also acted in and directed plays. He would get a funny look on his face and I would say what are you thinking about and he would always be thinking about music.If we were in a restaurant, sometimes I would get embarrassed because Orpheus looked sullen and wouldn't talk to me and I thought people felt sorry for me. In addition to these characters who derive from the ancient version of the myth (Orpheus, Eurydice, Hades, and a chorus as would appear in a Greek tragedy), Ruhl has added the character of Eurydices Father, who appears in all three acts and is therefore central to her concerns in the play. Sarah Ruhl's wildly imaginative bittersweet comedy EURYDICE reimagines the classic myth of Orpheus and Eurydice not through Orpheus's infamous pilgrimage to retrieve his bride, but through the eyes of its heroine.