![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/11\/181031_Eurydice_2883.jpg\")
<\/a>Sukanya Shukla \u201920 during a dress rehearsal of Eurydice<\/em>. Associate Professor of Theater Christine McDowell designed the set and costumes. (Theophil Syslo\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n Orpheus\u2019 lost love takes the spotlight as the central figure in Eurydice<\/em>, Sarah Ruhl\u2019s 2003 adaption of the tragedy, which Bates is presenting in a strikingly staged production through Nov. 5.<\/a> While her husband is mourning her untimely death, she must navigate the underworld and all the painful memories it elicits.<\/p>\n Here’s a brief conversation with Martin Andrucki, Dana Professor of Theater, who directs the Bates production.<\/p>\n We are staging the action \u2014 and seating the audience \u2014 entirely on the stage of Schaeffer Theatre in a space that will be surrounded by water, the River Lethe. The auditorium, which usually accommodates spectators, forms a cavernous backdrop to dramatic events on earth and in the Underworld.<\/p>\n Sukanya Shukla \u201920 is Eurydice and Cael Schwartz \u201919 is the Lord of the Underworld in the Bates production of Eurydice<\/em>. (Theophil Syslo\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n With poetic dialogue, elaborate visual effects, and silent scenes that overflow with emotion, Ruhl\u2019s retelling turns a Greek myth into a memorable experience that The New York Times<\/em> describes as \u201crhapsodically beautiful … an inexpressibly moving theatrical fable about love, loss and the pleasures and pains of memory.\u201d<\/p>\n Christine McDowell, associate professor of theater, designed the set and costumes. Alice Swanson Esty Professor of Music Bill Matthews wrote the music, and Michael Reidy, senior lecturer and managing director in theater and dance, designed the lighting.<\/p>\n The play tells a classic story using the techniques of the contemporary stage. It’s a wonderful synthesis of the traditional and the new, and therefore a great vehicle for doing theater in the liberal arts context.<\/p>\n Also, the script calls for a non-naturalistic, poetic style of production and performance, and since our students’ default mode is realism, this is a good opportunity to jog them out of their aesthetic habits.<\/p>\n <\/p>\nHow are you handling the play in terms of design?<\/h5>\n
<\/a>Why is this play a good choice for the students involved?<\/h5>\n