Eurydice

Eurydice

City Theatre, 3823-D Airport, 474-8497

Through Jan. 30

Running time : 1 hr, 30 min,

Eurydice is what one would call an uplifting tragedy. Granted, everybody is dead at the end. (No surprise if you showed up that day in lit class.) Sure, something even sadder than death eventually overcomes them in Sarah Ruhl's retelling, directed by Karen Jambon for Different Stages.

But see, it's uplifting. At every step, even the saddest ones, the play returns to the things that make us cling to life: family, love, marriage, memories, even sad memories.

According to the Greek legend, Orpheus (Bastion Carboni) loses his bride, Eurydice (Nicole Swahn), right after their wedding. He is so distraught that he travels to the underworld (where the ancient Greek kept their dead) and makes a bargain with the Lord of the Underworld (Marc Balester): If he can walk all the way back to the land of the living without turning back to see if Eurydice is really with him, then he can have his wife back.

Ruhl shows us Eurydice's experiences instead. It's a beautiful tale, aided by a great performance from Swahn. Eurydice is a pretty girl, smart but easily distracted, tone-deaf but sensitive. Once in the underworld, she battles to regain the memories that connect her to the world of the living, with the help of her deceased father (Norman Blumensaadt).

There is much about this production that works and a little bit that doesn't. Overall, the balance says: "Go see this play! It will make you feel great things!" It's only that with a few differences, this is one of those shows that might have leapfrogged into ranking as one of the best of the past several months. Had the first scene shown better the chemistry between Orpheus and Eurydice, for instance, then it might be even more powerful to witness his journey to the underworld to retrieve her. Had Orpheus and Eurydice had the same passion and intensity at the beginning that we see when they lock eyes in the underworld, the first 15 minutes would not have stuttered.

The production succeeds in telling a beautiful story. Content Love Knowles' sound design adds atmosphere and feeling. While not quite every scene reaches its potential, the cast has no weak links. The Chorus of Stones is fun to watch, particularly the ladies and the gray bustles of their costumes (designed by Lauren Matesic). Already I've used the word "beautiful" twice, but standing back a pace, that's the best way to describe this show: beautiful.