Cosmos Theatre Arts continues its bold season of inventive storytelling with Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice, a luminous reimagining of the ancient Greek myth directed by Michaela Carter. The production runs November 14–16 and 21–23 in the Cosmos Theatre, 222 N. Marina Street in Prescott.
In Ruhl’s poetic retelling, the familiarlegend of Orpheus and Eurydice is turned inside out. Leaving aside Orpheus’ grief, we follow Eurydice’s journey into the Underworld, a surreal realm where she reunites with her father, rediscovers forgotten memories, and must choose between returning to the world of the living or remaining in the place of remembrance and love.
“It’s really a father-daughter play,” Carter explains. “Sarah Ruhl wrote it for her father, who passed away when she was in college. In the Underworld Eurydice gets to have the conversations she never had in life. It’s deeply touching, but also full of humor and magic.”
Carter, who studied theatre at UCLA before turning to writing and teaching, returns to her roots with this production, her first directing project for Cosmos Theatre Arts, the nonprofit company she co-founded with Delisa Myles and Hannah Palazzi. “I’ve spent so much time writing novels,” she says. “Directing has been pure joy, a creative collaboration that brings words, light and people together in this intimate space.”
The cast features Ky Rial as Eurydice, Isaac Jackson as Orpheus, Frank Malle as Eurydice’s father, and Nathaniel Montgomery as both the Nasty Interesting Man and the Lord of the Underworld. The show also stars Celia Osborne, Marissa Ellis and Patti Sheaffer as the Chorus of Stones, imagined here as a vaudeville sister act keeping the Underworld's rules with wit and comic flair.
Adding to the immersive experience, the production plays with sound, signs and direct audience engagement, a style Carter likens to Brechtian theatre. “You see the magic being made right in front of you,” she says. “The Stones run the show — they make the rain fall, blow the train whistle, and break the fourth wall.”
The music, created by Max Palazzi and Bill Osborne, further defines the duality of worlds: the bubbling, subterranean tones of the Underworld and the light, natural sounds of life above. “It’s immersive, intimate, and emotional,” Carter notes. “People will laugh a lot, but they’ll also leave thinking about what it means to remember, and what it means to let go.”
Tickets for Eurydice are available from cosmostheatrearts.org. Friday and Saturday evening performances are at 7pm, matinees at 2pm Sundays. Tickets are $30.
