From Thursday, Feb. 23 to Sunday Feb. 26 the Evergreen Players presented Sara Ruhl’s “Eurydice,” based on Orpheus and Eurydice, two characters from Greek mythology.

In the original story, Orpheus and Eurydice fall deeply in love, but Eurydice dies of a venomous snakebite and is taken by Hades to the underworld. Orpheus goes after her, and Hades agrees to let the couple leave on one condition: Orpheus cannot look at Eurydice as he carries her back to the land of the living. Of course, Orpheus looks at her, forever damning Eurydice to the Underworld.
In Ruhls’s play, the plot has changed its perspective from Orpheus to Eurydice, as well as made the setting and characters more modern. After their wedding ceremony, a man named Nasty Interesting Man tells Eurydice he has a letter for her from her father. This is a trick, and Eurydice is tripped down the steps of the Underworld, where she is trapped.

After being dipped in the River Lethe, Eurydice’s memory is wiped clean. She knows nothing, but a man soon revealed to be her father rehabilitates her. She remembers Orpheus, and calls out to him to save her. However, when Eurydice is faced with the decision of leaving her father to be with Eurydice, her happy endings ends in tragedy.

Kel Millionie directed the Evergreen Player’s rendition of ‘Eurydice.’

“‘Eurydice’ is a play that holds a special place in my heart…Ruhl’s attention to the subconscious, poetry, history, and relationships strikes a cord within my soul. Perhaps you’ll see a bit of yourself within these detailed and complex relationships,” he wrote in his director’s notes.

The set of the play was rather plain, with hardly any props, which kept the audience’s undivided focus on the phenomenal actors. The few props that were involved included falling fruit, rain, and a working wood elevator.

Louise Pasciuto ‘19 played the lead role of Eurydice in her second play at Loyola. By her side was Zalen King ’19, who previously played ‘Macbeth’ in a pervious Evergreen play. Eurydice’s father was played by Jonathan (JD) Deegan ’17.

Millionie said that he was surprised by the cast “at the turn of every corner. Not because they lack talent, but because they reveal a new facet of the intricacy of life whenever possible.”

Photos Courtesty of Rob Clatterbuck