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Is This What It's Like To Be Dead?  Ithaca College Theatre Will Present 'Eurydice' In December

ITHACA, NY — Ithaca College Theatre will present “Eurydice” by MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship recipient Sarah Ruhl. The production will be directed by Wendy Dann, assistant professor in the Department of Theatre Arts and Hangar Theatre associate artist. Performances will be held in the Clark Theatre in Dillingham Center premiering Dec. 1 at 8 p.m. and running at selected times through Dec. 6.

“Eurydice” is based on Ovid’s classic Greek Orpheus and Eurydice myth, with a twist. When Eurydice dies suddenly on her wedding day, her husband, Orpheus, swears to find her and bring her back. The play takes the audience into the underworld with Eurydice where she is reunited with her father, a character added by Ruhl to the original myth. But, as said in the text, “there are no fathers in the underworld” — Eurydice’s memory, including all memories of her father, has been washed away. But Eurydice’s gentle father cares for her and re-teaches her all the things she has forgotten, as their bond grows strong once again. All the while, in the land of the living, Orpheus searches for a way to bring back his beloved bride. We see the scale teeter as Eurydice is torn between her love for her father in the underworld and for Orpheus in the world above.

To quote the announcement of her “Genius” award, Ruhl is a “playwright creating vivid and adventurous theatrical works that poignantly juxtapose the mundane aspects of daily life with mythic themes of love and war.” Many of her plays have amassed critical acclaim, among them, “The Clean House,” recently produced at the Kitchen Theatre, and “Dead Man’s Cell Phone.” Charles Isherwood of the “New York Times” states that Ruhl’s characters “negotiate the no man’s land between the everyday and the mystical, talking like goofs one minute and philosophers the next. She writes surrealist fantasies that happen to be populated by eccentrically real people, comedies in which the surface illogic of dreams is made meaningful — made truthful — by the deeper logic of human feeling.”

Ticket prices for “Eurydice” range from $4.50 to $10 and can be purchased at Ticket Center Ithaca by calling (607) 273-4497 or online at www.ithacaevents.com. Group discounts are available. Performance times are as follows: 8 p.m. on Dec. 1, 3–5, and 2 p.m. on Dec. 5 and 6.

The scenic design is by Nik Taylor ’11; the lighting design is by Steve TenEyck, assistant professor and associate chair of the Department of Theatre Arts; the costume design is by Abbey Steere ’11; and the sound design is by Don Tindall, assistant professor in the Department of Theatre Arts. Original music is composed by Josh Oxford. Movement is by Lindsay Gilmour, assistant professor in the Department of Theatre Arts. 

The cast features Melanie Beck ’10 as Eurydice, Corey Whelihan ’10 as her father, Tim Quartier ’11 as Orpheus, Parker Pogue ’10 as a Nasty Interesting Man/Lord of the Underworld, Jaylene Clark ’10 as Big Stone, Aaron Fried ’10 as Little Stone and Morgan Lavenstein ’11 as Loud Stone.

The stage manager is Stephanie Jayko ’11; the assistant stage managers are Lindsay Ricketts ’11 and Lucy Gram ’12; the assistant director is Danielle Sessler ’11; the dramaturge is Katherine Parkin ’11.

A nationally recognized professional theater training program, the Department of Theatre Arts at Ithaca College attracts students from across the United States. Through IC Theatre and the production season, undergraduate students present all aspects of theater in a professional model. Ithaca College Theatre has been a cultural resource for Tompkins County and the region for more than 70 years.

For more information, contact Juliet Greenblatt at (860) 944-0969 or JulietGreenblatt@gmail.com.