Some lives come out well, and others come out badly.
Eurydice is a play by Sarah Ruhl that was first performed in 2003, and was adapted by Matthew Aucoin into an opera of the same name in 2020. Focusing on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice largely from Eurydice's perspective, the play is a surreal, poetic affair that relies heavily on abstractions and set designs that can be interpreted as directors wish.
Eurydice and Orpheus's newlywed bliss is tested when Eurydice meets an interesting man who claims to have a letter from her deceased father, and shattered completely when Eurydice dies in an attempt to retrieve the letter. While Orpheus mourns in the world above, Eurydice lives down below in the Underworld, where shower stalls wipe the memories of incoming souls.
Accompanied only by a chorus of stones and the shade of her father, Eurydice struggles to remember anything about her past life, all while avoiding the lord of the Underworld's attempts to make her his wife. Meanwhile, Orpheus decides to rescue his bride, but will Eurydice want to go back after all's said and done?
This play and opera contain examples of:
- Adaptation Distillation: The opera keeps Hades' appearances the same and also refers to him by name, while in the play he's only referred to by title and appears in several different forms, including a child, an older man, and a superhumanly tall being.
- Alice Allusion: Notes for the play indicate the Underworld should resemble Alice in Wonderland more than traditional Hades.
- Amnesiacs are Innocent: Once dipped in the river, Eurydice becomes childlike and petulant, has to be retaught language and how to read, and expresses frustration when a book doesn't seem to do anything.
- And Now You Must Marry Me: The lord of the underworld is intent on making Eurydice his bride, and it's implied to be the reason he tempted her down in the first place.
- Arc Words: Eurydice is fascinated by "interesting" things and people, and the lord of the underworld exploits this to tempt her away. The usage of the word frequently means trouble.
- Canon Foreigner: Eurydice's father is unique to this adaptation, as even in stories where he's mentioned at all (usually said to be Apollo) he doesn't feature in the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice.
- Coming of Age Story: Eurydice grows and matures during her time in the Underworld and is eventually forced to choose between staying with her father in the Underworld or risking coming back to life with Orpheus.
- Composite Character: Eurydice acts as both herself, the wife of Orpheus, and as Persephone, Hades' wife who he kidnapped to make his bride.
- Death of Personality: The underworld's water reverts you to a blank slate, and by the end of the play both Eurydice and her father submerge themselves in the river voluntarily to forget everything.
- Don't Look Back: With the twist that when Orpheus is told he can't turn around, Eurydice is unsure about leaving. She ultimately calls to him to make him turn around, choosing to stay in the Underworld with her father.
- Downer Ending: By the end, only the lord of the underworld gets a happy ending, as Eurydice's father drowns himself in forgetfulness, Hades forces Eurydice to marry him and she forgets everything too, and Orpheus has died and can't read Eurydice's last letter to him.
- Easy Amnesia: Eurydice, her father, and other souls are stripped of their memories by showers in reference to the River Lethe, also losing the power of language.
- Everybody Hates Hades: The lord of the underworld is a selfish, spoiled manchild who stalks Eurydice and coerces her to be his bride.
- Gave Up Too Soon: Eurydice's father assumes she went back to be with Orpheus and immerses himself completely in the Lethe, only for her to return later. Then, assuming Orpheus will find someone else and be happy, Eurydice immerses herself in the river before being forced to marry Hades. Immediately after, Orpheus dies and arrives in the Underworld himself, unable to recognize Eurydice or read what she wrote.
- Greek Chorus: The Stones offer commentary on the story and advise the characters throughout the play, encouraging them to become unfeeling and cold like the stones themselves are.
- Hellevator: The descent to the underworld is portrayed via an elevator that doubles as a shower stall to wipe people's memories.
- In Love with Love: Stage directions state that Eurydice and Orpheus should be played like they're too in love, and they're in love with the feeling of being in love as much as they are with each other and their personal interests.
- Language Barrier: Once stripped of their memories, Eurydice and other shades cannot read, speak, or write; to the audience it comes off as indecipherable sound.
- Literal Split Personality: In the opera, Orpheus has a countertenor double that adds emphasis to several of his songs that represents his heroic quest, contrasting with the regular-guy baritone Orpheus.
- Manchild: The lord of the underworld is childish and petulant, best shown when he rides in on a tricycle in his failed attempt to seduce Eurydice, eventually determining she'd like him more if he were taller.
- No Ending: The play ends without resolution as Orpheus arrives in the Underworld, newly dead, and can't read the letter Eurydice left for him.
- Perspective Flip: The story focuses on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice largely from Eurydice's perspective, with intermittent input from Orpheus and Eurydice's father.
- Rescued from the Underworld: Orpheus goes to save Eurydice towards the climax of the play, with the twist being that Eurydice is unsure about leaving. She ultimately calls to him to make him turn around, choosing to stay in the Underworld with her father.
- Setting Update: The play is implied to be set sometime in the 1950s rather than Ancient Greece.
- Testosterone Poisoning: Hades takes pride in his chiseled figure and physical strength and comically boasts that Orpheus, with his long fingers and weak frame, can't measure up.
