Eurydice

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Production Team

PRODUCTION TEAM

Cast

Director and Dramaturgy

DIRECTOR AND DRAMATURGY NOTES

Who is Eurydice? She is a dryad, wife of Orpheus, and…that is all that is known. The tragic myth is overtaken by Orpheus’s story that audiences never get to learn about Eurydice. Sarah Ruhl's aptly named play allows for the audience to learn about this forgotten heroine, giving her hobbies, philosophical ideations, and a family. Starting as a love letter to her late father, Ruhl gave Eurydice a fully-realized identity by using her own memories as the basis. 

Leaning into this idea of memories, objects played a large part in the show’s overall concept. Mnemonic is a term coined by scientists that shows objects correlation to memory evocation in individuals. The larger significance an object possesses, the larger memory imprint. For Eurydice, important objects such as books and hats help her in reclaiming memories that were originally lost after entering the Underworld. 

Ruhl’s original script has the mortal world in the 1950’s and the Underworld in the 1930’s. To reflect on the memories of current audiences, the director pushed the time periods forward to where the mortal world was in the late 1980’s and the Underworld was in the late 1950’s with each of the stone characters being from their own time period. In making these changes, music was at the center of the process. Much like objects, music plays a large role in one’s memories. The songs accumulated together to become the production’s own soundtrack.

Ruhl provides an afterword at the end of the play in the form of twenty questions. The first ten are questions she answered, while the other ten questions she left unanswered so that the reader can think about it for themselves. Ruhl’s last and twentieth question, “are we our memories, or something else?,” became a focus of this production. Some of the cast members provided their own responses to this question.

 “I don’t think we are fully our memories. I think we are the memories we have yet to make, but tend to live within the ones we value the most.”

• “I think we’re a combination of both something old (memories) and something new. We have traits that tie us to our pasts but are also able to forge a new path before us, that we can carry on to other people.”
• "In a way, I think we are defined by our memories. But more specifically, by the behaviors and values we gain from them. That's why we are subjective creatures. Our memories and learned experiences shape the way we attribute meaning to the world around us, and why we sometimes find different meanings than others. What sets each person apart is their unique blend of values, shaped by their unique blend of memories.”
• “We’re only our memories if we let them dictate who we are. We are whatever we let make us.“
• “I think we are by definition a culmination of memories and lived experiences, BUT I also think there is a separate force that moves us through the present and into the future that cannot be considered a “memory” or “the past.” We make our decisions based on input from the past, but without memories, people are still able to function and feel emotion and process sensory input, which to me is proof that there is something beyond memory or consciousness that influences our lives.”
• “I think our memories make up just of fraction of who we truly are. I know for me I always attribute who I am and how I present myself to the hardships and different experiences I’ve had so far. However, even that seems diminishing because would that take away from who I was before I went through these things? And wouldn’t anything that happened before this present moment be considered a memory? At the end of the day, we’re whoever we choose to be. I believe who we are is a complex assortment made up of our memories, experiences, where we grew up, how we were raised, our personalities, and the socializing institutions that helped define us. Even, our gender identities, sexual orientations, racial classifications largely affect how others perceive us, which in turn, can affect how we view ourselves. It’s hard to imagine that we’re confined to a certain presentational binary simply due to memories we often don’t even choose to create.”
• “Yes, that is what makes everyone different. People remember events differently and have a different perspective/story to tell. But, we are all making new memories everyday, continuously changing us in positive and negative ways.”
• “At the end of the day, we’re whoever we choose to be. I believe who we are is a complex assortment made up of our memories, experiences, where we grew up, how we were raised, our personalities, and the socializing institutions that helped define us. Even, our gender identities, sexual orientations, racial classifications largely affect how others perceive us, which in turn, can affect how we view ourselves. It’s hard to imagine that we’re confined to a certain presentational binary simply due to memories we often don’t even choose to create and that ultimately bring her back.”
• “I think we are other people’s memories. We are and become the memories of others and the ideas they believe about us.”
• “We have the capacity to feel and experience this world in a way unique to our species, using our minds and bodies in an attempt to comprehend the magnitude of the earth and the universe. If we didn’t use these abilities, how would we grow? How would we learn anything? If we couldn’t remember what colors were, how could we have a favorite? There are parts of us that intrinsically gravitate to certain aspects of life, but those parts can only be discovered by experiencing life. I hate cilantro, but I wouldn't know that if I didn't remember the first time I tasted it. I don't know why my body was built to dislike it, but that's not the important part, the important part is how everything you learn about your body and mind shapes how you continue to move through life and dictates your decisions. I believe that we are a testament to the synergy of nature, evolved to become so intelligent that we no longer experience the world like animals, but people. I think that we are memories inside of predetermined bodies. When Eurydice loses her memories, she loses her personality, but there are parts of her that remain. Her burning curiosity, her love, the things that she started out with that she used to shape herself, and that ultimately bring her back.”
• “Uhhh something else.”

Each of the cast’s answers is right in their own way, and there lies the beauty in how Ruhl crafted her questions. The last ten questions were designed to produce subjective answers. Much like these questions, memories are unique to the individual that possesses them. Ruhl helped to shape Eurydice through her memories she had with her father. Now, she is giving theatre artists a chance to imprint their own memories into this play. While watching this production, start thinking of your own answer to Ruhl’s final question; consider your answer to be an official welcome into the world of Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice.

Special Thanks

SPECIAL THANKS

University of Maryland, Montgomery College, and Georgetown University

Seth Swartz and Towson University 

This performance is made possible through generous support from the Maryland State Arts Council.

HCC’s Theatre Program is also a participating member of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF).

The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, part of  the Rubenstein Arts Access Program, is generously funded by  David M. Rubenstein. 

Special thanks to The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust for supporting  the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. 

Additional support is provided by The Honorable Stuart Bernstein  and Wilma E. Bernstein; and the Dr. Gerald and Paula McNichols Foundation. 

Kennedy Center education and related artistic programming is made possible through the generosity of the National Committee for the Performing Arts. 

This production is entered in the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF).  The aims of this national theater education program are to identify and promote quality in college-level theater production.  To this end, each production entered is eligible for a response by a regional KCACTF representative, and selected students and faculty are invited to participate in KCACTF programs involving scholarships, internships, grants and awards for actors, directors, dramaturgs, playwrights, designers, stage managers and critics at both the regional and national levels. 

Productions entered on the Participating level are eligible for invitation to the KCACTF regional festival and may also be considered for national awards recognizing outstanding achievement in production, design, direction and performance.   Last year more than 1,500 productions were entered in the KCACTF involving more than 200,000 students nationwide.  By entering this production, our theater department is sharing in the KCACTF goals to recognize, reward, and celebrate the exemplary work produced in college and university theaters across the nation.  

Howard Community College

HCC THEATRE PROGRAM
Bill Gillett, Chair, Performing Arts
Jenny Male, Coordinator of Theatre
Lisa Wilde, Professor, Theatre
 

HOROWITZ CENTER STAFF 
Janelle Broderick - Horowitz Center Director
Jessica Chaney - Content Coordinator
John Elder - Technical Director
Kyle Dill - Production Manager
Darius McKeiver -  Business Associate
Linwood Milan – Technical Coordinator
Eric Moore - Production Electrician
Mark Smedley - Associate Technical Director
Julie Via - Audience Services Manager
Bill Watson – Gallery Manager and Curator

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