I was thinking about you. Her Father can remember how to read, so he reads the letters to her, which she only ever partially comprehends; again we witness language buckle beneath insistence. ORPHEUS: Join StageAgent today and unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. It only means one thing.Or maybe two or three things. How about that? Text for monologue "EURYDICE" by --Sarah Ruhl below :))Orpheus never liked words. 2. Once there, he will sing a note so powerful, it will open the gate to the underworld. Mistaking him for a porter, she asks to be taken to a hotel room, but her Father explains there are no rooms because people do not sleep here. "Awash in a young writer's bracing, lucid 'Eurydice'", Review: 2004 production at Berkeley Repertory Theater, "Theater Review. This juxtaposition surely drives the artistic momentum of the play, but it also makes heavy demands on the audience. ,dhaJ^t6N?yQCcVPgRj lo4# QHUS\#hhR9n$@hTl+K!BQt[{90r\=kH&Qmjh25_ L@08,nQiZmM@:,&|9(Z &^X~'0G"% iqj When Eurydice returns to the underworld in Movement Three, she finds her father has dipped himself into the river. Because it makes youa larger part of the human community. The play should be performed without an intermission. I have my books. Sign up today to unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. I was afraid. When people compose letters in this play they neednt actually scribble themthey can speak directly to the audience. It can fit around anything. He tells The Lord of the Underworld he has come to lead his wife to the world above. directed by Les Waters and designed by Scott Bradley. The cost and license availability quoted are estimates only and may differ when you apply for a license. Dying too young on her wedding day, Eurydice must journey to the underworld, where she reunites with her father and struggles to remember her lost love. This Study Guide consists of approximately 50pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - / Show me your body, he said. Sarah Ruhl's plays include In the Next Room, or the vibrator play, The Clean House, Passion Play, Dead Man's Cell Phone, Melancholy Play, For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday, The Oldest Boy, Stage Kiss, Dear Elizabeth, Eurydice, How to Transcend a Happy Marriage, Orlando, Late . Don't try to find me again. G>%rsnQBO$nHt}Qam?_@\RCUP!ovE(}{t@`lIt^6({ITm+BO,m.`wZ;NxaJTmz^+9Ks26kKZR,yP"HFq}>F}F3I^UqVj+,FE>q*H$V'|af|fu~5n!z$ 95 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. Inside his head there is always something more beautiful. This estimator is only for non-equity/amateur productions. Surely not--surely not the sky and the stars too. Yup. 4 0 obj I am going to write out instructions for your next wife. Research Playwrights, Librettists, Composers and Lyricists, In the Next Room, or the Vibrator Play - Play. He flirts with her. I'm going to make each strand of your hair into an instrument. Auditions On May 4th: please arrive in the lobby of Nichols Hall between 6-9:30pm. Rain inside an elevator is both impossible and improbable and therefore poetic. Say something! (Ruhl 2006, 376). Eurydice. Peter Glazer Patrick Russell Acclaimed playwright Sarah Ruhl reimagines the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice through the eyes of its heroine. Check out Eurydice, by Sarah Ruhl . The lord of the underworld tells him that he may take Eurydice back, but only if he does not turn around to look at her. Nevertheless, I appreciated the relative lightheartedness of this rendition that held it distinct from the tragic tone of the original tale of Orpheus and Eurydice, and its refreshing perspective shift to that of a . report form. I was working on a new philosophical system. Oh. Meanwhile, her father has decided that he wants to forget everything, and dips himself in the river again. Report DMCA, Eurydice- Sarah Ruhl Background: Eurydice is saying her final goodbye to Orpheus before she forgets him in the Underworld. The apartment is very high up. Will you remember my melody under the water? He looks at his imaginary daughter; he looks straight ahead; he acknowledges the guests at the wedding; he gets choked up; he looks at his daughter and smiles an embarrassed smile for getting choked up. Dramatic Comedy / 5m, 2f / Unit Set In Eurydice, Sarah Ruhl reimagines the classic myth of Orpheus through the eyes of its heroine. Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl; The Clean House by Sarah Ruhl; The Pavilion by Craig Wright . It was a series of monologues and choral chanting with yoga-base movement, and featured the usual cast of characters. He drops the letter as though into a mail-slot. An archive of monologues that I have used or plan to use for auditions, and that you might find useful too. The play was adapted by Ruhl for the libretto of an opera by the same name, with music composed by Matthew Aucoin, and directed by Mary Zimmerman. [1][2] The play next was produced at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, California, in October to November 14, 2004. While she is at her wedding, getting a drink of water from a water pump, Eurydice meets The Nasty Interesting Man. They conspire to create original, at times breathtaking, stage pictures." 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). Comedic/Dramatic. Eurydice enters the underworld through an elevator, inside which it is raining. T$"*Km+.B)h)wAuj2$mr*1Ac@ze28qSMeBKwXd%U4wQ1}j#Sz,O^.6`V8BMq~q4 -LT09XR^-0(tM7^i5srgn3[%;G[tyQk0F1I}Q4:Fxp!M_:IRS7(6qCF It only means one thing.". Age Range: 20's. Summary: 'In the Next Room (or the vibrator play)' is a comedy about marriage, intimacy, and electricity. When thou dost ask my blessing, Ill kneel down and ask of thee forgiveness; so well live, and pray and sing (Ruhl 2006, 377). He cant see you. We make it real nice here. This volume also includes Eurydice, Ruhl's reinvention of the tragic Greek . 2006. our global village, blah blah blah. As Eurydice mourns her father, the lord of the underworld returns, having grown from a child to superhuman height. . However, he writes a wedding speech, and he gives it to a worm whom he hopes will find Eurydice. It only means one thing. EURYDICE: ORPHEUS: Start: Orpheus never liked words. The play has been produced by hundreds of high schools and universities. 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." But I still love you, I think. He claps the rhythmic sequence for her. 2. (Ruhl play) Eurydice is a 2003 play by Sarah Ruhl which retells the myth of Orpheus from the perspective of Eurydice, his wife. Lahr, John. Because Eurydice loved to read, Orpheus sends her the Collected Works of Shakespeare, but she only shouts at the book, What do you do? The houses of your neighbors look dull and lacking in moonlight. Of course it is also possible that Eurydices intense injunction to Say something! can only be answered by a master like Shakespeare. Ruhl adapted the play into the libretto for an opera, Eurydice by Matthew Aucoin, which premiered at the Los Angeles Opera on February 1, 2020.[19]. She escapes him, her letter in her hand. She misses a few notes. Draft: February, 2007. Since her death, the bereft Orpheus has been trying in vain to reach her; he sends five letters and even attempts a phone call. This is what it is to love an artist: The moon is always rising above your house. Eurydice Summary & Study Guide includes comprehensive information and analysis to In the third movement, Orpheus arrives at the gates of the underworld, singing a song so powerful it makes the Stones weep. Scripts and rental materials are not included in this estimate. 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/. 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). Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice: A Contemporary Myth Ara Vito Eurydice explores the universal truths within the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice as retold by twenty-first century playwright Sarah Ruhl. Its opening at the Met was postponed because of the Covid 19 pandemic. She pinches the letter from his pocket but then falls to her death. All included titles: From Up Here by Liz Flahive Collective Dating: Natural Dating by VB . . EURYDICE: I first became aware of Sarah Ruhl's work in the fall of 2006, when I saw Eurydice performed at the Yale Repertory Theater in New Haven. DV+Po^Vp4*ogonY::]`(. Ruhl made several changes to the original myth's story-line. Scene two breaks the horizontal line of sight between Orpheus and Eurydice on the beach and the audience at sea; instead, the audience must look up to see the Father standing on a catwalk (figure 2). Character: Sister James. In Eurydice Ruhl does more than challenge the classical; she demands responsibility for the failures of language and for the pretense those failures necessitate. Set in the 1880s at the dawn of the age of . Terribly lonely without his daughter, he decides to lose his memories instead of living with them. Eurydice is based on Sarah Ruhl's 2003 play of the same name. The Hippodrome production of the play was quirky, no doubt: Eurydice wore legwarmers and the Lord of the Underworld, tricked out like Johnny Rotten (lead singer of the 1970s punk rock band the Sex Pistols), glided about on a Segway. The underworld should resemble the world of Alice in Wonderland more than it resembles Hades. That's a secret. Demanding critics complain of mannered writing thats less mature, veering frequently into poetic preciousness (Rooney 2007). And, for the most part, there is a pleasant atmosphere and you can work and socialize, much like at home. March 4, 2017. But as she catches up to him, she calls out his name, and he turns to look at her, causing her to die a second death. EURYDICE: Has an innocence and a desire for adventure. some rusty exposed pipes, Just kidding. If Ruhls aesthetic is troublesome, perhaps it is because she so effectively exposes our own underlying pretensions. When the rainwater falls inside the elevator, the water washes away his memories of her, as water usually does for the dead. Any suggestions? The scene drove home in utter silence that hard reality: sometimes we cannot give as much as we want to give, and in these moments, even genuine gratitude is tainted by pretense: Thank you. Eurydice is in love with Orpheus. Your wife just might be on the road behind you. Shut up! everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of Eurydice. After she has left, The Nasty Interesting Man sees the letter her father sent. He teaches her to read. Dont try to find me again. She does not recognize him. The music is by Matthew Aucoin, who also has a new book about opera . ORPHEUS: She admits that Eurydice is a transparently personal play. With contemporary characters, ingenious plot twists, and breathtaking visual effects, the play is a fresh . Orpheus returns once more through the raining elevator, and he too has forgotten. The playwright of Eurydice, Sarah Ruhl, takes a different perspective, writing the myth from Eurydice's point of view. Take care to change the light bulbs. The Clean House and Other Plays. Tilly's melancholy is of an exquisite quality. I WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER YOUR MELODY! He grieves until he wills his way into the Underworld and is allowed to retrieve her on one condition, which he violates. You would be lonely for music. I do. Orpheus makes a sweeping gesture with his arm, indicating the sky. In 2009, I saw it performed at the Hippodrome State Theater in Gainesville, Florida, under the direction of Lauren Caldwell. 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." 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. Research Playwrights, Librettists, Composers and Lyricists. Gods and Dolls: Sarah Ruhl Reimagines the Orpheus Myth, The New Yorker, July 2, 2007. http://tinyurl.com/q7stnks, accessed July 24, 2015 Ruhl gives Eurydice more agency as she . EURYDICE: Frances, Tilly's hairdresser, becomes so melancholy that she turns into an almond. I want you to be happy. Sarah Ruhl re-imagines the classic myth of Orpheus through the eyes of its heroine. Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl. Weckwerth, Wendy. Show: Eurydice Playwright: Sarah Ruhl Style: Contemporary Genre: Dramedy Length: 1-2 minutes. But he is always going away from you. When hes sad, kiss his forehead and I will thank you. The elevator is dark inside, but back-lit so as to bring the rain into full relief. I dont know what came over me. Or maybe two or three things. 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. The play had its world premiere at Madison Repertory Theatre, Madison, Wisconsin, in September 2003. 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. Ruhl, Sarah. She claps. Instead, Ruhl adds the Father, in a move that is intensely autobiographical. Studied English literature with the intention of becoming a poet. character breakdowns, auditions, monologues and more! "Eurydice" by Sarah Ruhl, directed by Libby Stratton. By Sarah Ruhl. ORPHEUS: Eurydice pens a letter to Orpheus and his next wife, then immerses herself in the river and lies down in forgetfulness. Add to basket. What do you DO?! As a result, Ruhl also adds a new character, Eurydice's father. The first takes place only in the world above. 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! Im not worthy of you. 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 Her dead father has advice for her wedding but his letters can't get through to the land of the living. Equity/professional customers should contact the Licensing department directly at [emailprotected] to inquire about a title's availability. A full list of Sarah Ruhl's plays. . With a libretto by Sarah Ruhl, adapted from her acclaimed 2003 play, the opera reimagines the familiar tale from Eurydice's point of view. I don't need to know about rhythm. "Doubt" by John Patrick Shanley. [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). It can fit around anything. If Orpheus walks out of the underworld, says The Lord of the Underworld, Eurydice will follow him. Like most of the dead, she has dipped herself in the river and lost her memories. Don't try to find me again. The play received several award nominations, including the 2008 Drama League Award, Distinguished Production of a Play, and the 2008 Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Set Design of a Play, (Scott Bradley). Then she dips herself in the river. When Eurydice returns, her father is lying silent on the ground, having lost all of his language and memory forever. To my Husbands Next Wife: Be gentle. New York, NY, Accessibility Statement Terms Privacy |StageAgent 2020. 1995. With this line, the playwright nudges the audience to pretend for a moment. She talks in the language of dead people now. Little Stone: Its a very quiet language Pretend that you understand her or shell be embarrassed. And Big Stone responds, Yespretend for a moment that you understand the language of stones (Ruhl 2006, 359-60). She falls down beside her father, unconscious. For Ruhl, in the theater space must yield to imagination, not, as in film, the other way around. 3,474 ratings248 reviews. 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. Since he knows Eurydice's relationship to him, he cares for her. I wanted to write something where I would be allowed to have a few more conversations with him (Weckwerth 30). But only one thing at a time. [14] It ran at American Players Theatre (Spring Green, Wisconsin) under the direction of Tyne Rafaeli in June to October 2016. EURYDICE: Orpheus 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. [16], The play was presented in London at the Young Vic Theatre in May 2010, after a tour starting at the Drum Theatre, Plymouth, on February 25, 2010, and finally playing at the Young Vic's Maria Studio, starting in previews April 29. He had his music. Why don't you remember it? It can be interesting to see if other peoplelike dead people who wrote booksagree or disagree with what you think. Oh. 2007. Shut up! Instead, this Eurydice is a vibrant . 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. New York, NY, Ages 12-17: Camp Broadway Ensemble @ Carnegie Hall Together, they read a book Orpheus sent. Eurydice premiered in Los Angeles in February 2020 and at the Metropolitan Opera on November 23, 2021. He picks her up and throws her into the sky. The play begins with Eurydice and Orpheus, two young lovers, who are about to get married. This will help you to better understand the character, his or her situation, the intended audience reaction, and the context for the piece. Eurydice. She has been a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, a Tony Award nominee, and the recipient of the MacArthur "genius" Fellowship. It involved hats. Meanwhile, Orpheus makes a plan to rescue Eurydice from the underworld. tags: artists , loneliness , love . n &8,+6nn;L C4_[m9 7/&'Gm*:y^$~%9b6%p-gA{^K0[5EwbFFE ./_Vkt!_m%EAUho@|Nvw2 (aS^AIN']> N(y}y}sh%T%0E_W[c9T{{1rfBrUdyhM#F>^>wh5Ne4,E?vbir~ar4E-6d;L HR/HH3 ]`9nCXNo #. I too fought off tears, not always successfully, although I also gagged on lines intolerably cloying. The set contains a raining elevator, When he sees Eurydice at the water pump again, he tells her about the letter. The plays of Sarah Ruhl. 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. She deliberately causes him to turn around so she can return to the underworld and be with her father. The Nasty Interesting Man makes a sexual advance on Eurydice while she is in his apartment. Page 1 of 14 Alice in Wonderland meets Greek myth in this playful, heart-breaking American take on a timeless tale of loss, grief and redemption. Still, the play is acclaimed as full of both woe and wonder, walking a tightrope between the mythic and the mundane (Lahr 2007). EURYDICE: the land of the living, then the underworld, which should resemble the world of alice in wonderland more than it resembles hades. set sometime between the present and slightly before the present. Eurydice. Finally, Orpheus too enters from the elevator, having truly died this time. Yannick Nzet-Sguin oversees the December 4 transmission, leading Aucoin's evocative music and an immersive new staging by Mary Zimmerman. This play is based on the classical Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Eurydice- Sarah Ruhl. Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy [7] Charles Isherwood, reviewing for The New York Times, called it a "weird and wonderful new play."[8]. I don't know what came over me. It's not interesting or not -interesting. Suddenly, she recognizes her father too, and she embraces him. 1 - The Rocky Horror Show I would say: She crawls on top of him and kisses his eyes. 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. Show me your body, he said. . 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. Such is the time-traveling magic of Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice, which reimagines the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice through the eyes of its heroine. Sarah Ruhl (born January 24, 1974) is an American playwright, professor, and essayist.