Danielle Server
Staff Writer
The UW Department of Theatre and Dance is set to present “Eurydice,” written by Sarah Ruhl, on Wednesday Feb 12, in time for Valentine’s day. The play is a flipped perspective of the Greek myth “Orpheus and Eurydice”.
“The myth is centuries old. It’s one you can find traces of throughout our collective history, but it’s always told through the perspective of Orpheus, a…music made man.” said Patrick Konesko, the director of the UW production, “ In this version of the story, it’s all from the Eurydice’s perspective rather than being this sort of object of desire. Instead, she is her own person and makes her own decisions. The play is about seeing how that changes the myth.”
The original Greek myth follows the story of Orpheus in his journey to bringing back Eurydice from the underworld after his bride was bitten by a snake shortly after the marriage. In Ruhl’s production, the play gives voice to Eurydice rather than her male counterpart.
“The purpose of retelling [the] greek myth is not to recite it word for word to its historical accuracy. When ancient greek play rights are talking about doing a play, they aren’t replicating; they are retelling the issues of the day,” said Konesko.
In this production, Eurydice will be guided by three stones when she comes down to the underworld as she has to follow specific rules all in the meanwhile, and she meets her father. As the story progresses, she rebels against the rules in order to try and remember her life from when she was alive.
“Story aside…the design of this play is incredible. Our designers have done amazing work.” said Konesko, “There’s lots of music, [the] costumes are beautiful and the performers are doing an incredible job with difficult material.”
The University of Wyoming theatre and dance department has had a challenge putting together the production in just a few weeks and winter break. The students came back a week early to rehearse from noon to ten p.m. every day before their school schedules kicked in.
“I think there are multiple things people would love about this show.” said Jordan Clark, an actor who portrays one of the three stones, “Our set is beautiful… We also have specialized writing and sound designs for the show. It’s based on the text and what the text supports. It’s a visually beautiful show, but a great example of humanity. It’s also a great look at the female perspective with the story because it’s about her own empowerment, taking her fate into her own hands.”
