EURYDICE

"Eurydice" reimagines the classic myth of Orpheus and Eurydice not through Orpheus's infamous pilgrimage to retrieve his bridge, but through the eyes of its heroine. 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. With contemporary characters, plot twists, and a script written to be a playground for designers, the play is a fresh look at a timeless love story. 
 
Eurydice had its world premiere at Madison Repertory Theatre in Madison, Wisconsin in 2003, after which is was performed at Berkeley Repertory Theatre in 2004, and Yale Repertory Theatre in 2006, directed by Les Waters. It opened Off-Broadway at Second Stage Theater in 2007.
Sarah  also adapted the play into the libretto for an opera, Eurydice by Matthew Aucoin, which premiered at the L.A. Opera in February 2020. 
 
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Excerpt


CHARACTERS:

Eurydice
Her Father
Orpheus
A Nasty Interesting Man/The Lord of the Underworld 

A Chorus of Stones:

Big Stone
Little Stone
Loud Stone

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.

NOTES:

Eurydice and Orpheus should be played as though they are a little too young and a little too in love. They should resist the temptation to be “classical.”
The underworld should resemble the world of Alice in Wonderland more than it resembles Hades.
The stones might be played as though they are nasty children at a birthday party.
When people compose letters in this play they needn’t actually scribble them—they can speak directly to the audience.
The play should be performed without an intermission.

This play is for my father.

 

First Movement
 

Scene 1

A young man--Orpheus--and a young woman--Eurydice.
They wear swimming outfits from the 1950s.
Orpheus makes a sweeping gesture with his arm, indicating the sky.

EURYDICE:
All those birds?

He nods.

EURYDICE
For me? Thank you.

They make a quarter turn and he makes a sweeping gesture.
He makes a gesture of giving the sea to Eurydice.

EURYDICE:
And—the sea! Now?

Orpheus opens his hands.

EURYDICE:
It’s mine already?

Orpheus nods.

EURYDICE:
Wow.

They kiss. He indicates the sky.


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