Content Warning: Discussion of suicide in paragraph four       

I was excited to watch the Brandeis Theater Department’s retelling of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. I came into the show only knowing the barest bones of the myth: a woman brought to the underworld too soon; a talented musician fighting unbeatable odds to bring her back; two lovers always separated by circumstance, fate and gods. And, of course, I knew the famous and damnable act of looking back for Eurydice committed by Orpheus. With these basic plot points in mind, I was blown away by the retelling. 

Firstly, this play follows the perspective of Eurydice (Katherine Bulthuis ’27), not Orpheus (Sam Taxman ’27). Secondly, the character aptly named “Interesting Man” (Paul Weir ’25) is one of the two main antagonists, rather than the snake of the original myth. In common retellings, Eurydice was bitten by a snake on the day of her wedding and died. In the play, Eurydice was led away from her wedding to the home of a strange man in a top hat, who introduced himself as a “more interesting man” than Orpheus. Interesting Man went on to list the ways in which he was more appealing than Orpheus, ways that were humorous to the audience, adding some levity to the mounting anxiety we felt, watching an innocent woman being led into a dangerous situation. The leverage that allowed Interesting Man to trick Eurydice into following him away from her wedding was a letter from Eurydice’s father, who was dead. He did, in fact, have a letter from Father (David Feit Mann ’25), one of many, and the only one to properly make its way from the underworld. In trying to both retrieve the letter and fend off Interesting Man’s advances and proclamations of love, Eurydice fell down the staircase of Interesting Man’s high rise, dying. Interesting Man was both a metaphorical snake and functioned as the snake of legend. 

Upon realizing that his beloved wife was dead, Orpheus sank into deep depression, writing incredibly sad songs and letters, though he admitted to not being as good with the written word as he was with musical composition. Here is another way the myth diverges from the play: while the myth focuses on Orpheus’s experience while Eurydice is in the underworld, Orpheus is shown in the background of the set, behind what appears to be a greenhouse wall, writing songs and letters, while Eurydice is, for the most part, downstage nearest to the audience, reuniting with her Father. Eurydice and Father’s interactions are incredible to watch, as Eurydice is dropped in the river (assumed to be the River Styx, the boundary between our world and the underworld, and crucially, the river of forgetting) and does not remember anything about her past life, including who her father or Orpheus are, or how to read. These losses are especially devastating, as the audience knows that those are the three loves of Eurydice’s life. The audience could feel intense pity and sadness as Father was forced to play along with Eurydice’s idea that the underworld was a hotel, and she had nowhere to be and nothing to do but recover from a day of travel. Additionally, there is a poignant scene in which Eurydice does not know what a book is, and when one lands at her feet, she shakes it pathetically and despairs, as she cannot make it do anything, since she does not know how to read. This book becomes her saving grace, however, as Father teaches Eurydice how to read with it, and eventually she remembers her life.

Once Eurydice remembers who she is, the play picks up the pace, introducing us to the Child (Simon Link ’28), the play’s interpretation of Hades. His role is the same as that of Hades in the myth, keeping the central married couple separate, Eurydice mind-wiped and Orpheus miserable. Portraying Hades as a self-important, spoiled, miserable child made him even less likable, as Interesting Man (who is also in the underworld, showing that perhaps he had hoped to drag Eurydice there all along? Maybe he was always following the Child’s orders?) caters to the Child’s every whim. At the same time, Orpheus discovers how to get to the underworld, and tries to bring Eurydice back. Unfortunately, Eurydice causes him to break the one rule: she got his attention and made him turn back to look at her. With that action, Orpheus is sent back to the living world without Eurydice as punishment for breaking the Child’s rules; and Eurydice’s memory is wiped once again. Believing that he lost his daughter for good, Father covers himself in water from the River Styx, losing his memory as well and thus dying a second death. Eurydice finds her father dead, and goes into the river herself as well, before she is doomed to marry the Child. Orpheus arrives in the underworld one final time to find Eurydice dead, ending the play on a note depressing, yet accurate to the myth.

Several critical details were not included in the above review that made the play so dynamic and interesting. Chief among the details are The Stones. Big Stone (Jordan Li ’27), Smooth Stone (Madelyn Zimbalist ’28), Loud Stone (Dani Salsberg ’27), Rare Stone (Yinrun (Yvette) Feng) and Little Stone (Saaya Daga ’27) are all presences of the underworld that seem to follow the Child’s agenda. However, Orpheus’ music charms them and softens their hearts in a significant moment. These same actors in the beginning of the play portrayed dancers at Eurydice and Orpheus’ wedding. The ensemble echoed important lines and pushed the plot along as the Stones, who all followed the rules of the underworld, but had their own personalities as well.

The actors in this play were talented, emotional and retold the myth of Eurydice with creativity, grace, and an emphatic quality that had me close to tears. They were supported by an incredible set (designed by Sarah Rozene) which featured full glass panes covered in ivy, and reflected the lighting (designed by Kayleigha Zawacki), making it adaptable to reflect a wedding, Interesting Man’s apartment and the underworld. The costuming of this performance was also incredible. I was fascinated by Eurydice and Orpheus’ underworld costumes, which were white with drips of blue. This design reflected the River Styx, which is an important concept for the play. Eurydice’s wedding dress was also incredible and spoke to her innocent, kind, feminine character. The Stones’ costumes were also incredible and showed their roles and independent personalities. One aspect of the performance that impressed me the most was the working pump prop on set. As I mentioned before, the River Styx was a critical motif throughout the play. So the pump, which produced water after a few pumps from the actors, amazed me as an innovative and accurate way to get the water onto the stage. 

Eurydice was an incredible, enchanting and poignant performance by the Brandeis Theater Department. Cast, crew, artistic staff and all who helped to make this play possible did an incredible job bringing the myth of Eurydice to life on the Brandeis stage.