Event

Eurydice, by Sarah Ruhl

The Mendocino College Theatre Arts Department presents Eurydice, Sarah Ruhl's magical and beautiful adaptation of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. This is a play which will touch your hearts. The production features an original musical score by college recording arts instructor Rodney Grisanti and his students, as well as dance sequences choreographed by college dance instructor Eryn Schon-Brunner. This play is appropriate for most ages, though it's themes of love, death, memory, language and music will be most appreciated by those 12 years old and older.

Orpheus & Eurydice is the myth in which on the wedding day of the beautiful Eurydice, to the musician Orpheus, tragedy strikes. Eurydice steps onto a pit of vipers, dies and is swept away to the underworld of Hades. Orpheus' grief overwhelms him; he travels to the underworld and plays music for Hades which melts the lord of the underworld's heart. Hades agrees that Orpheus can lead Eurydice back to the world of the living, but with one condition. Orpheus must promise not to look back at Eurydice until they reach the surface. Orpheus, undone by his own doubts, looks back, losing his love forever. In this version, Sarah Ruhl adds the character of Eurydice's dead father, whom she meets when she goes to the underworld. The play examines the nature of love, memory, and earthly connectedness. Ruhl wrote the play as a sort of love letter to her own deceased father, and it is brimming with humanity. Directed by Reid Edelman.