Eurydice Tickets

By: Sarah Ruhl
Director: Les Waters
Producer: Signature Theatre

The myth of Eurydice and Orpheus has been adapted and retold for centuries, speaking to the enduring power of this godly love story. There have been operas, ballets, and plays, and Sarah Ruhl’s stands out thanks to its playful language, charming theatricality, and female-centric narrative.

The musician Orpheus marries Eurydice, and on her wedding day she travels to the underworld. In Ruhl’s adaptation, she there finds her deceased father, adding complexity to her decision to return to the world above. Simultaneously, Orpheus begins an odyssey to find his love and bring her back. In Ruhl’s retelling, a story of young love, fatherly care, and fantastical wonder follows, all told in the playwright’s distinctly wry and poetic style.

Now, the play returns to New York, coming to Signature Theatre for a limited run this spring. No previous knowledge of the myth is needed, and even for those who adore it, Ruhl’s version is sure to offer something new to appreciate.

What to watch for

• Lovers of this myth can also see it sung onstage: Hadestown is its own musical retelling of this story and is one of Broadway’s long-running hits.
• Sarah Ruhl is a highly accomplished playwright. She’s a Tony nominee (In the Next Room…), Pulitzer finalist (The Clean House, In the Next Room…), and a MacArthur “Genius” Grant winner.
• Signature Theatre offers playwrights a cycle of shows to produce, and recently Ruhl’s other adaptation, Orlando, wowed audiences last season in a colorful production starring Taylor Mac.
• Ruhl’s play was also adapted into an opera of the same name with music by Matthew Aucoin and directed by Mary Zimmerman. It played at The Met.