An Evening in the Underworld

Susan and I attended a play tonight at the university.  It was a production of Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice, an imaginative retelling of the myth that usually features Orpheus as its focus.  He is a character in Ruhl's play, too, but Eurydice is definitely the main character.  The production took place in the Backstage Theater, a flexible space that's ideal for more intimate productions than those done on the mainstage.  Susan and I had front-row seats; the actors were literally mere inches away from us at times.  We had a great perspective from which to take in the interesting set choices (an elevator in which people got rained on and a water pump, both of which used real water; a room established in the Underworld by lacing string through loopholes on the floors and walls; the river Lethe represented by a length of blue fabric that emerged from a sewage drainpipe).  Although each actor had his/her moments, my favorite performers were the three women portraying talking stones in the Underworld, commenting on the action to us and to the characters and serving as a sort of Greek chorus.  It was a creative production of an inventive play that reminded me of something our friend Darin would direct.