Eurydice

The stark industrial surrounds of a warehouse floor are transformed into the stage for a surreal journey into a mystical underworld, for Foul Play Theatre Co’s intriguingly quirky production of Eurydice. Sarah Ruhl’s 2003 play is a modernised, absurdist take on the ancient Greek legend of Orpheus, the virtuoso musician whose love for the fair Eurydice is so strong, that when she dies he ventures into the underworld to retrieve her. This retelling focuses on Eurydice’s emotional journey, she is initially disoriented by her entrance into the world of the dead and struggles to remember her mortal life. But a reunion with her deceased father (a character invented for this play), helps her recall the joy of living, but also leaves her conflicted as to whether or not  she should return to the her husband in the mortal world when the opportunity presents itself.

Annabel Matheson portrays Eurydice with a winsome zest for life in the early scenes detailing her whirlwind romance with Orpheus in the Earthly realm, but is equally impressive in communicating her scatterbrained confusion upon entering the underworld and the anguish of her divided loyalty. Patrick Frost brings both warmth, and an authentic world-weary authority to the role of her father and the two actors demonstrate a natural rapport with one another, even before Eurydice has fully regained her faculties. If the play has a weakness, it’s that Eurydice’s relationship with her father often registers more strongly than her relationships with Orpheus (Antoine Jelk) and The Lord Of The Underworld (Eddie Morrison). That said, Jelk and Morrison do have impressive moments of both cocksure swagger and wounded vulnerability. The chorus – played by Graham Self, Katherine Shearer and Britt Plummer – adopt an attitude of alien glibness to the proceedings, which is sometimes hilarious and at other times chilling.

Meghann Wilson’s set design is minimal but immediately striking in its use of unusual components, such as uprooted bushes and lengths of rope rigged to resemble the frame of a tent. Alexander Ramsey’s lighting ensures clarity in scene transitions and together with Anthony Zatorski’s score, creates a suitably suspenseful ambience.

Yasmin Gurreeboo’s elegantly wrought direction ensures that some scenes, despite the shoestring budget, have an air of grandeur entirely appropriate to the larger than life scenario.

Highly recommended.

Benjamin Orchard