3rd Play: Eurydice

I outlined the setting element of the play Eurydice!

Eurydice Presentation Outline
I. Overworld and Underworld: Setting of the Play
    A. No real set change
        1) Sarah  Ruhl’s play has no real set change. The difference between set changes would be differentiated by lighting, sound, or character placement. The factor of there being no real set change plays into the practicality of the performance of the play. Many times the play jumps back and forth between the overworld and underworld, so in order to keep the fluidity of the play Ruhl suggests that no physical set changes be made.
    B. Living and not living
        1) The set also plays into the symbolism of Ruhl’s play Eurydice. The idea of not having a set change symbolizes that there is not that much of a difference between the living and non-living. For example, Eurydice was a bit confused and forgetful when she first arrived in the underworld, but she was still herself. She still acted the same, and she still obtained the same emotional and physical characteristics. In the play the idea that is conveyed is that dead or alive you are still the same person, you do not suddenly transform into a different being. The setting remaining mostly the same is what supports this idea that Ruhl wishes to portray.
    C. The Greek Myth of Orpheus and Eurydice
        1) The setting of the play is revolved around the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. For example, the plays settings are between the overworld and the underworld.
        2) Ruhl stays true to the Greek myth of the love between Orpheus and Eurydice in setting the play between these two worlds.
        3) How the Greek myth goes, “Orpheus fell in love with Eurydice a woman of unique beauty; they got married and lived happily for many years. Hymen was called to bless the marriage and he predicted that their perfection was not meant to last for years” (Artketa). Basically, Orpheus and Eurydice fell into deep love with one another, but their happiness is marked. Eurydice, the myth says, is chased through a forest by an admiring shepherd and is ultimately bit by a snake and dies. Orpheus plays god-like beautiful music in his mourning for her. The gods are moved by his music and he is admitted to the underworld, or Hades, to retrieve Eurydice. They do not make it out of the underworld because Orpheus breaks the deal with the god of the underworld by looking back at Eurydice, and she dies a second death.
II. Purpose of Setting
A.    Symbolism that is emphasized through setting
1)    One of the purposes of the setting is to draw attention to the symbolism within the play. The play symbolizes the lengths of love, and it questions whether or not death can keep two people from remaining in love with one another. The setting plays a key role in emphasizing on this symbolic aspect of the play with the divide between Orpheus in the overworld, and Eurydice in the underworld.
B.    Themes that are emphasized through setting
1) The themes of the play are; love, loss, death, and breaking the norms,
whether those norms may be in the overworld or the underworld.
        2) The setting compliments the themes of the play because the setting is where the themes are rooted from. Without the setting taking place in either the overworld or underworld every theme would lack its beauty as well as its purpose. Overall, the setting is vital for these themes to exist within Eurydice.
III. Effect of Setting on Play’s Action
A.    Effect of setting in the written play
1)    Within the actual written play the characters are affected by the setting of the play. Eurydice and Orpheus are torn apart by the two separate worlds that they exist in, their newly announced marriage is abruptly ended, but their love grows into a longing love to once again be reunited.
2)    Eurydice’s father is affected because he is reunited with his daughter.
3)    The stones are affected because they need to upkeep the rules of the underworld, which a number one rule is to forget. Both Eurydice and her father break that rule in the world of the non-living.
B.    Effect of setting in the performance of the play
1)    The setting affects the way that the performance of how the play will be executed. For example, the lighting, music, or character placement may change in order to differentiate between the two different worlds.
C.    Divide between characters
1) The overworld and underworld setting creates an emotional divide between the characters. Orpheus mourns for Eurydice. Eurydice’s father is relieved to be reunited with his daughter, and in his reunion afraid he may lose her to Orpheus retrieving her. Eurydice at one point is torn between returning to the overworld with Orpheus and remaining in the underworld with her father. The setting influences the emotions of the characters immensely.
        2) The setting itself is like a breathing being because it presents both physical and emotional obstacles for the characters. For example, Eurydice’s transition into the underworld makes her bewildered and forgetful of her previous life in the overworld. Also, Eurydice regains her memory and realizes who her father is and that she loves and misses her husband, the setting plays into these emotions she has because her new found placement in the underworld is the obstacle that keeps her from Orpheus and ties into her missing him. And, her new found placement in the underworld brings her to the realization of being reunited with her father.
        3) Ultimately the setting is alive. The setting is a mirror between the overworld and underworld, the worlds obtain similarities but are mirroring images. For example, the child is the ruler, Hades himself, in the underworld. But, the child character is also the interesting nasty man in the overworld. This character, the child and nasty man, is a mirroring image provoked by the two settings.
    D. Ultimate affect on action of the play
        1) Without the overworld and underworld settings the storyline of the play would not be able to move forward because the play jumps back and forth between both settings, showing what is occurring with Orpheus and Eurydice almost simultaneously. Both setting are vital for the action of the play. Orpheus would not be able to long for and retrieve Eurydice without these two settings. The Greek myth itself that Ruhl is following would not be portrayed accurately without these two settings. The overworld and underworld concept is not only vital for the action of the play, but it is also vital for the Greek myth.
IV. Utilizing setting
A.    Eurydice: closing thoughts
1) Sarah Ruhl did a beautiful job of utilizing the setting in order to stay to Greek mythology. Her incorporation of the overworld and underworld settings in Eurydice was both innovative and poetic.