BWW Reviews: Sarah Ruhl's EURYDICE from Actors Bridge & Belmont University

Playwright Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice, her vibrant and provocative re-imagining of the classic Greek myth, is one of the most poignant theatrical treatises on love and loss, grief and redemption, that you're likely to witness.

Brought to the stage of Belmont University's Troutt Theatre by the luminously gifted Jessika Malone - through a collaboration between Actors Bridge Ensemble and Belmont's Department of Theatre and Dance - Eurydice is certainly one of the most technically challenging productions we've seen of late on a Nashville stage. Thankfully, we can report that Malone and her design/technical team deliver a production that is nothing short of stunning: There's an elevator in which it rains (which probably stands in for the River Lethe), a river that dissects the stage (the River Styx, we suppose, although it remains unnamed), the Lord of the Underworld wheels his way onstage on an oversized tricycle. But apparently that's just another day at the office for the tremendously talented team of artists assembled to bring Eurydice to the stage in such a colorful, awe-inspiring production.

Such technical wizardry could overwhelm some actors, but we can also report that Malone's cast - which consists primarily of Belmont students and Actors Bridge's stalwart leader Bill Feehely - breathe life into Ruhl's characters with aplomb and sure-footed confidence that belies their youth. What you see onstage is truly an amazing amalgam of theatrical riches that is certain to inspire and illuminate.

Ruhl, whose astonishing talents become apparent with each new work that flows forth from her fertile imagination, creates a completely contemporary take on the story of Eurydice and Orpheus - which has inspired countless others to create ballets, operas, and stage and film adaptations over the last centuries - setting her focus squarely on the character of Eurydice. In Ruhl's vision, in which water plays such an important role (hence, the technical wizardry), representing life, love, loss, regret and even hope, Eurydice (played by Kristin McCalley with a deft blending of vulnerability, strength and wide-eyed abandon) dies on her wedding day to the god of music, Orpheus (Mile Gattrell in a dreamy, heart-renching performance) when she follows "A Nasty, Interesting Man" (Chris Rayis, giving his all to the brief, but altogether significant, role while providing original music that underscores some of the play's action) to his high-flying loft on the promise that he has a letter for Eurydice from her dead father.

When she falls to her death, Eurydice is sent to the underworld via the wet elevator (in Greek myth, the deceased were dipped in the River Lethe to erase all their earthly memories), where she is greeted by The Stones, whose job it seems is to provide guidance to new arrivals on underworld deportment and etiquette. These ghostly, vaguely menacing, rather amusing creatures are played stylishly and confidently by J.P. Cheek (as Big Stone), Gina D'Arco (Little Stone) and Adrienne Hall (Loud Stone), who warn the audience that Eurydice no longer speaks the language of the living.

Thus, with language failing her and her memories gone, Eurydice fails to recognize her father (Feehely, in a measured and controlled performance that fairly resonates with paternal warmth). With his daughter believing him to be a hotel bellman, the Father makes every effort to help his daughter remember, offering her the opportunity to recall their shared lineage and collective memory, at one point telling her of a time when he played "I Got Rhythm" for his first piano recital (a small, but pivotal moment for the two). Perhaps it sounds fanciful - and when presented in the stylizEd Manner in which Malone directs her capable cast it is - but what transpires between Eurydice and her father is genuinely heartfelt and moving.

Meanwhile, Orpheus does his level best to find his way to Eurydice, in order to bring her back to his world, declaring time and again his undying love for her (attempting to get her phone number from information - to no avail) and expressing his devotion to her in a variety of ways: Sending letters to her (apparently, the mail system in the underworld works pretty damn well, even if phone service is spotty) and playing his mournful music to connect to her - although it's established in the early going that the pair don't necessarily communicate on an artistic level (Orpheus loves music, Eurydice loves books). And despite the best efforts of The Lord of the Underworld (played with a wonderfully over-the-top zeal by Tyler Henry), and against all other odds, Orpheus and Eurydice are given the chance to reconnect.

Ruhl's language for Eurydice is at once musical, colorful, operatic, soaring and down-to-earth - poignant and funny at the same time. Her view of the relationship between Eurydice and her father, as well as the shared connection between Eurydice and Orpheus, are delicately examined and overtly ripped to shreds. It is this dichotomy that exemplifies the best of Ruhl's expressive writing and her unique take on what goes on in the world around her and in the world her imaginative mind creates for her audience.

Malone's vision for Eurydice is staggering! And the way in which that vision is brought to life onstage in nothing short of astounding, thanks to the yeoman efforts of technical director Don Griffiths (and technical consultant Mitch Massaro) and the assembled design teaM. Cody Dermon's sound design provides the perfect ambience for the goings-on, while Richard Davis' lighting design is, quite simply, perfect for the piece. June Kingsbury's costume design is exquisitely expressed through her work for each of the characters. And, finally, Clayton Landiss' set design provides an artistic backdrop for the story unfolding before you, providing a colorful, fanciful space upon which these actors are allowed to transport you to their own world.

- Eurydice. By Sarah Ruhl. Directed by Jessika Malone. Presented by Actors Bridge Ensemble and Belmont University's Department of Theatre and Dance, at the Troutt Theatre, Nashville. Through February 27. For details, visit the company website at www.actorsbridge.org.

Pictured: Kristin McCalley in Eurydice, photo by Rick Malkin

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