Review: EURYDICE, Jermyn Street Theatre

Greek mythology has always had a hold on pop culture, but it seems like it’s taken a place of honour in recent times - especially on stage. Hadestown has become a beloved musical worldwide, not one, but two Oedipuses are opening in the West End in the matter of months, and Electra is joining the rows in 2025 spelled with a k. Mythophiles are being fed well.

Just a few streets down from the Lyric, where Eurydice and Orpheus fall in love every night in Anaïs Mitchell’s musical, Jermyn Street Theatre focuses on the myth’s tragic heroine with Sarah Rhul’s eponymous play. Directed by Stella Powell-Jones, the project is an exquisite addition to the landscape, perfect for those mourning the cancellation of Netflix’s Kaos.

Powell-Jones removes the figures from the doom and gloom usually associated with the underworld and delivers a gem of a production with a gorgeous colour story. Designer Tina Torbey’s is quite the beachy set. Drapes of cerulean satin add movement to the backdrop while the floor is sponge-painted in hues of blue, as are the walls. Curved benches are the only props, waves that idly ripple the surface of the sea. We meet the lovebirds right before they get engaged. 

Eve Ponsonby and Keaton Guimarães-Tolley are well suited, but the latter has the constant tendency to conclude his sentences in upspeak, grating against the others’ more naturalistic deliveries. He’s a sweet boy enamoured with music and Eurydice is an exuberant young woman with a chatty personality. Where Orpheus is more of a romantic dreamer, she is more pragmatic and outspoken. Ponsonby’s focused, airy performance boosts a bubbly side in Eurydice’s emotive sphere, offering a refined take on her lore and bringing modernity to the character. Powell-Jones centres the attention around Eurydice’s relationship with her dad; her marriage to Orpheus is almost on the sidelines of that bond. 

Dickon Tyrrell portrays the protagonist’s Father, a Rhul-made role, who managed to retain his memories after bathing in the Lethe. His untimely death becomes the bait used by the Nasty Interesting Man (Joe Wiltshire Smith) to seduce Eurydice and kick-start the whole plot. Tyrell is a reassuring, melancholic presence. He’s delicately protective and selfless, the personification of the saying “to be loved is to be seen” as he builds a makeshift room for his daughter where personal space doesn’t exist.

This world of illusions and deception lends itself to Powell-Jones’s traces of absurdist comedy. Her concept for the three stones that welcome Eurydice into the land of the dead has something slightly Monty Python-esque to it. Katy Brittain, Tom Morley, and Leyon Stolz-Hunter are endlessly hilarious in their misshapen costumes that only show their faces. Rhul’s quizzical dialogue adds intrigue, turning the trio into a sarcastic chorus that only subdues when the Lord of the Underworld shows up.

Hades is Wiltshire Smith dressed in schoolboy clothes and it suddenly clicks why nothing makes sense down there: the realm is ruled by a child with a beard. Like we said, Powell-Jones has a stunning vision for the piece. In a place where words have no meaning, love and melody are foreign concepts, and the deceased speak the language of stones, those who are able to cling to memory and family suffer the most. 

Deep longing and beautiful sophistication permeate the production; it’s new and amusing, eternal and profound. Powell-Jones makes the invisible string between the lovers visible - allegorically but also tangibly - with a good dose of traditional stagecraft, adding a touch of innocent magic too. Carmel Smickersgill’s soundscape is unobtrusive but complementary to the atmosphere, gentle in its structure. Everything comes together to tell the bittersweet tale with whimsy and style.

The Jermyn Street Theatre team prove once again that they’re the masters of boutique theatre.

Eurydice runs at Jermyn Street Theatre until 9 November.

Photo credit: Alex Brenner

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