Production Workshop's latest Downspace play commences, unexpectedly, in the Upspace — on a beach, surrounded by the sounds of surf crashing and the imagined sight of summer stars. So begins Margaret Maurer's '13 unconventional interpretation of "Eurydice:" a reimagining of the myth of Orpheus by Sarah Ruhl '97 MFA'01, who first produced the play at Brown exactly 10 years ago.
The play adheres mainly to the original story of Orpheus and Eurydice with a twist — instead of following the famous musician himself, the audience looks through the eyes of his young wife, who dies abruptly soon after the play's beginning. This approach allows the audience to take a ride into the underworld with one of the dead, experiencing an environment that brings Wonderland to mind.
In this transition from the world above to the world below, the technical abilities of the designers and the space itself really shine. Though the script does not call for a set change, Maurer and her team provide one of the biggest transitions possible: The audience is shepherded into a different theater. The first movement of the piece takes place in the relatively stark, small Upspace, but upon the death of Eurydice, the audience, led by a set of mischievous and amusing "stones," wends its way down a giant staircase into the contrastingly cavernous Downspace. Here the exposed pipes and bright colors of the set and lights emphasize one of the most prominent attributes of the production: a childish perspective on serious topics.
The sense of youthful purity and passion comes out in many other areas of the play as well. Both Eurydice and Orpheus are effectively portrayed, as the script itself mentions, "as a little too young and a little too in love." The two characters seem to come at youth from rather different directions. Allison Schaaff '14 as Eurydice presents a child in the process of growing. She simultaneously brings to her character the naivete of a person wholly inexperienced with the world and a child who recently discovered the ability to whine.
This dual nature balances well in the presence of Hayward Leach's '14 more innocent Orpheus and brings a sense of reality to the character. But it also makes it slightly harder for the audience to sympathize with Eurydice when she makes her final choice during the walk out of the underworld. In the end, Schaaff brings a sense of emotional maturity to her character that allows her final moments to produce a very real effect on the audience.
Leach's Orpheus is very different, not just from Eurydice, but also from traditional interpretations of the play. In keeping with her lack of conventionality, Maurer chooses to bring the audience a youthful and deaf Orpheus. Leach described his character as a man obsessed with music who lost his hearing when he was younger. Now in his early 20s, the character can only "hear" the music in his mind.
Though perhaps a risky one, Maurer's choice never once backfires. The poetry of Orpheus's movements as he signs his thoughts, interpreted by the chorus of stones, adds an entirely new dimension to the show. Leach does a magnificent job signing a language he said he has no experience with outside "learning the alphabet in kindergarten." Orpheus's deafness also helps bring out his childish innocence. In the absence of his voice, Leach gives the audience a great variety of often exaggerated facial expressions which emphasize the sense of innocence and clarity of thought that make the character of Orpheus so beautiful to watch and so easy to mourn with.
Another significant difference between the play and the original Orpheus myth is the introduction of Eurydice's father. Also a resident of the underworld, he brings a new dimension to the relationship and turns a myth of unhappy accidents into a contemplation on the choice between pursuing what once was or the search for what could be. The father, played by Thomas Finley '14, acts in opposition to the character of Orpheus — if Orpheus reveals the uncertainty and potential of Eurydice's future, then Finely's character shows all the beauty of her lost past.
"Maybe the scariest thing is that in the moment when she has to choose between recovering her lost childhood or leaving and experiencing a new future, she's stuck in between," Schaaff said. "We as people never get choices like that."
Though Finley undoubtedly brings great strength to the character of the father and the relationship between the two characters is an electrifying force at times, there are also moments when the interactions between the two read a bit superfluous and bring less new material to the stage.
The moments of silence and stillness between Eurydice and Orpheus bring a tenderness to their relationship that helps the audience believe in their love, but the same is not always true for the moments between Eurydice and her father. But when Finley is left alone on the stage, he delivers, capturing the audience with his love and loss.
The show also features excellent supporting characters in the Lord of the Underworld and his chorus of stones. The Lord of the Underworld, played by Gordon Sayre '12, is a comical and evil imagining of a devil-like character. He further reinforces the sense of youth overlaying the darkness inherent in a play centered around a trip to hell. The stones, Olivia Harding '12, Belle Cushing '13 and Jenny Gorelick '14, also act as a strong presence in the underworld. They are the classic schoolyard bullies, humorously trying to keep order as they mock the souls of the dead heroes, fall sweetly in love with Orpheus and enhance the overt sexuality of the Lord of the Underworld.
Overall, "Eurydice" is an incredibly engaging experience. Its content, excellent performances and unique interpretation demand not just that you see it, but that you think about it and talk about it and wonder what you would do if faced with Eurydice's choice.
"Eurydice" is running in the PW Downspace Dec. 9 - 12.
