FREE Q-MoB Group: Tom Truss in Eurydice Mythic Play @ MCLA (N. Adams)

A poetic retelling of the Orpheus myth through the eyes of Eurydice, this play is a tender meditation on love, memory, and the boundaries between life and death. Sarah Ruhl’s luminous writing brings the underworld to life with wit, imagination, and heart. Featuring evocative design and movement, Eurydice invites audiences into a world where myth meets memory and the power of love transcends loss.

MCLA Theatre invites you to experience EURYDICE by Sarah Ruhl, directed by Professor of Theatre, Laura Standley, Fine and Performing Arts Department faculty member and Core Creative Arts Domain Leader.

Inspired by the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, Ruhl’s imaginative play retells the story from Eurydice’s point of view. After dying suddenly on her wedding day, Eurydice finds herself in the strange and dreamlike Underworld, where language is undone, memories are erased, and she is unexpectedly reunited with her long-dead father.
What begins as a playful love story becomes a poignant meditation on grief, identity, and the fragile threads that connect us to the people we love.
“Sarah Ruhl’s play asks us to think about the ways we hold onto the people who shape us,” said director Laura Standley. “At its heart, ‘Eurydice’ is about the relationship between a daughter and her father, the complexities of unresolved loss, and the power of art to connect the living and the dead.”
The MCLA production brings Ruhl’s poetic world to life through an inventive visual environment that blends movement, music, and imaginative stagecraft. Student performers and designers collaborate to create a shifting landscape between worlds, where familiar rules of time, space, and language unravel.
The production features performances by MCLA theater students and is supported by a team of student designers, stage managers, and technicians working alongside faculty and guest artists. Guest artist , who is a professional actor & one of the founding members of Q-MoB, appears as Eurydice’s father. Acclaimed designer Charles “Chip” Schoonmaker serves as costume designer for the production, working alongside MCLA alumna Elizabeth Rodio ’21, who returns as costume shop manager. Pete Wise serves as sound designer and composer, creating original music for the production.

Inspired by the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, Ruhl’s imaginative play retells the story from Eurydice’s point of view. After dying suddenly on her wedding day, Eurydice finds herself in the strange and dreamlike Underworld, where language is undone, memories are erased, and she is unexpectedly reunited with her long-dead father.
What begins as a playful love story becomes a poignant meditation on grief, identity, and the fragile threads that connect us to the people we love.
In the famous Greek myth, Orpheus descended into the underworld in search of his lost wife Eurydice, harnessing the power of music to charm everyone and everything along the way with his music. In this 2003 dramatic comedy by Sarah Ruhl, the Orpheus myth is poetically retold through the eyes of Eurydice. Several changes are made to the story: Instead of Orpheus yielding to his desires and looking back toward Eurydice, she causes him to look back by calling him -- either her fear of re-entering the world of the living, or her wish to remain with her dead father in the underworld.
Ruhl’s play became the basis of the libretto for an opera composed by gay classical music genius Matthew Aucoin.

PARKING: IMPORTANT GIVE YOURSELF PLENTY OF TIME TO FIND PARKING & THEN TO FIND THE THEATER -- It can be confusing if you've never been to MCLA before. Consult the campus map and in the evening you can park in any Commuter or Faculty/Staff parking spot, but NOT in spots marked Resident Students or 24/7 Reserved.
Here are the most convenient parking lots for a show at MOSAIC Theater in Venable Hall:

• The Bowman Hall/Freel Library Lot: This is the closest and most popular lot for central campus events, located right off Church Street.
• The Amsler Campus Center Lot: Located just a short walk away from the theater.
• Admission Visitor Parking: A smaller, designated visitor lot located near the Smith House (also off Church Street).

If you parked in the Bowman Hall or Freel Library lot, Venable Hall is practically right next door. It sits right in the middle of campus, flanked by Bowman Hall, the library, and the tall Berkshire Towers residence hall. Venable Hall is a multi-use building. Once you go through the main doors, simply follow the interior signs pointing to MOSAIC Venable Theater (it shares the building with the Venable Gym and various student lounges).

REACHING US NIGHT OF PERFORMANCE: Q-MoB is looking for a volunteer to serve as host for our group. Please if you'd like to serve as a host. The host will arrive 30 minutes early to reserve seats for our group and help people find the theater, which can be confusing for people who have not been on the MCLA campus. If we don't get a volunteer host, you can try calling/texting the main Q-MoB phone: 413-344-8162. If we find a host, we will put their cell # in the confirmation email.

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Host or Publisher Q-MoB (Queer Men of the Berkshires)