“Eurydice" at St. Ambrose University -- November 14 through 23.
Friday, November 14, through Sunday, November 23
St. Ambrose University Studio, Galvin Fine Arts Cenyer, 2101 North Gaines Street, Davenport IA
Delivering what the New York Times deemed "the subliminal potency of music, the head-scratching surprise of a modernist poem, and the cockeyed allure of a surrealist painting," Tony-nominated playwright Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice enjoys a November 14 through 23 staging in the Galvin Fine Arts Studio Theatre at St. Ambrose University, the Times adding that the genre-spanning show is a "devastatingly lovely – and just plain devastating – theatrical gloss on the Orpheus myth."
In Ruhl's acclaimed play, on the day of her wedding, Eurydice falls victim to a tragic accident that sends her hurtling into a wonderland of an Underworld. Ripped from her beloved Orpheus, the greatest musician in the world, Eurydice is reunited with her dead father in the Land of the Dead. Orpheus consequently journeys to retrieve his bride, but Eurydice has begun to discover that the cost of living again can sometimes exceed the cost of staying dead. Full of dark humor, lyrical beauty, and wit, Ruhl’s Eurydice transforms a traditional myth into a visceral, contemporary meditation on love worth grieving for with contemporary characters, ingenious plot twists, and a fresh look at a timeless love story.
Directing and sound designing Eurydice is the St. Ambrose theatre-department chair and professor Daniel Hale, whose previous stage presentations for the university have included The Pirates of Penzance, The Secret in the Wings, She Kills Monsters, and The Little Prince. Bella Vitale serves as the show's stage manager, with additional members of Hale's creative team including: assistant stage manager Grace Hagerman; lighting and scenic designer Aaron Hook; props designer Miranda Richards; costume designer Bradley Robert Jensen; and crew members Callie Thomas, Brynn Christian, and Allie Crisco.
Eurydice's title character, meanwhile, is played by The Secret in the Wings and She Kills Monsters castmate Ebby Barber, Zach Ulmer (The Pirates of Penzance, [title of show]) portrays Orpheus, and the ensemble is completed by Claire Banks, Kate James, Catie Johnson, Rylan Moore, and St. Ambrose's psychology-department faculty member John Stachula.
Eurydice will be staged in the Galvin Fine Arts Center's Studio Theatre at St. Ambrose University November 14 through 23, with performances Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Admission is $15, and more information and tickets are available by calling (563)333-6251 and visiting Cur8.com/19339/project/133531.
