EURYDICE

EURYDICE. By Sarah Ruhl. Directed by Les Waters. Yale Repertory Theatre, New Haven, Connecticut. 30 September 2006.

A letter delivered by a worm. Stones that yell "sadness not allowed." The persistent sound of leaky faucets. These discomfiting elements make up the mythic world of Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice. Ovid's well-known tale of Orpheus, a musician who loses his wife on their wedding day, has struck the imagination of many artists because of the character's obsessive grief and tragedy. Orpheus descends into the underworld to pursue his Eurydice, only to lose her a second time. Ruhl, however, looks at the myth from Eurydice's point of view by dramatizing the moments she spends in the underworld becoming reacquainted with her father. She creates an Alice-in-Wonderland atmosphere-similar to Jean Cocteau's surrealist treatment in his play, Orphée-by placing these figures in a nonsensical world. This intriguing attempt to mix a fantastical atmosphere with a serious contemplation of memory, loss, and grief is ambitious, but does not always succeed.

The retelling of a myth for the stage can involve any number of structural changes. Ruhl expands the character of Eurydice and introduces some new characters to the myth. She gives Eurydice a long-deceased father and introduces a chorus of stones, who, according to Ovid, were so moved by Orpheus's playing that they wept. Eurydice's character is not so much deepened as explained. An indecisive young woman who seems uncertain about the books she reads, she accepts Orpheus's marriage proposal with a hesitant, "Yes, I think." Maria Dizzia, who also played Eurydice in the West Coast premiere at berkeley Repertory...