This morning on KSEE Sunrise Faith Sidlow talked with the director and two castmembers from "Eurydice" being performed through this weekend at Fresno City College

Eurydice, by Sarah Ruhl, directed by Chuck Erven
October 16 & 17 at 7:30 p.m.
October 17 at 2 p.m.
$12 general and $10 students/staff.
FCC Theatre Box Office: 442-8221
Fresnocitycollege.edu

How far will you go for love? Will you go to the ends of the earth, or beyond? What are the limits of grief? How long do you grieve for somebody?

These may be questions of the ages, but playwright Sarah Ruhl tries to answer them in her moving and poetic contemporary play eurydice opening October 9 in the FCC Theatre.

Director Chuck Erven says this adaptation of the Greek myth takes the premise of the original story in a new direction. It still centers on the death of the young bride Eurydice on her wedding day and her distraught groom Orpheus. He journeys to the underworld to bring her back to the world of the living. But is warned not to look back, or risk losing her forever.

In this 2003 version, Eurydice has been united with her long dead father in the underworld and the story becomes about the relationship between a father and a daughter. “So Eurydice is presented with a dilemma in deciding between her father and her husband,” Erven said.

When eurydice first opened off-Broadway, it was an instant hit. It was not too long after the tragedies of 9/11 and it’s theme of grieving for lost loved ones hit a major chord with theatre goers. “People flocked to the play because they saw in it a profound and moving portrait of loss. Even though it doesn’t have anything specifically to do with 9/11, it was about how to remember the dead,” Erven said.

Erven describes the imagery of the production as both concrete and metaphoric. Scenes include lots of water, a pool and a bath house-like setting. It will be award winning art director and scenic designer Matt Scarpino’s job to bring it all together as guest designer.

Scarpino, owner of Matt Scarpino Design and Production in Placentia, California, is well known for his work on numerous stage and corporate productions. His production credits include Striking 12 for Ensemble Theatre Company of Santa Barbara, and the Los Angeles Premier of Urinetown at the Matrix Theatre in Hollywood. Currently, he is working on seven projects in four different cities including Fresno. Scarpino holds a MFA in Scenic Design and Technical Direction from California State University, Fullerton.

Scarpino describes Sarah Ruhl’s adaptation of eurydice as a dance calling it very melodic, like a dance and “asking the audience to take that leap with us” into a non-literal world. “Hopefully, what people will see is a very magical place. It’s very sculptural, mixing a non-literal world with the literal world,” he said.

An original musical score is being written for the production by Nick Erven, the director’s son, a FCC alumnus who now resides in southern California.

Melissa Booey as Eurydice and Jarod Caitlin as Orpheus lead the cast. Other cast member are Mike Harrison (Eurydice’s Father), Magnus Chhan (Lord of the Underworld), Marcos Hammer, Jochebed Smith, Bridget Manders and Jon Hollis.