North West End UK’s Deputy Editor, Caroline Worswick, discussed Jermyn Street Theatre’s exciting new production of Eurydice with director Stella Powell-Jones.
A play written by Sarah Ruhl, it draws its inspiration from the Greek mythical tale of the beautiful Eurydice and the musically talented Orpheus, whose doomed relationship has been re-told by many ancient storytellers, including Ovid and Plato.
Eurydice was written in 2003 by Sarah Ruhl, why do you feel that now is good time to re-imagine the play?
On one hand, Eurydice is about something pretty eternal: love and earth. How do we deal with death? Does love survive death? What would we do if we got a second chance? Sarah wrote the play while mourning her own beloved Father. My own Dad died unexpectedly when I was young, and I think the urgent need for answers to these questions is a big part of what drew me to a life in the theatre. So, these are questions I’ve been mulling for a while!
But why now?
We’re in a cultural moment where we’re grappling with how to accept death as part of life. You see it in films like All of Us Strangers and shows like KAOS, as well as in memoirs like Simon Boas’ The Beginner’s Guide to Dying and Naomi Westerman’s Happy Death Club. Eurydice’s searching and yet unapologetically funny feels like something we particularly need now.
Sarah Ruhl has been working with you in rehearsals, how does working with the playwright help to develop the play?
It is my second time working with Sarah – I previously directed her adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s Orlando here in 2022. Time with Sarah is a complete joy. As a writer, she both completely trusts her words and is unendingly generous in a room. To make that specific, Sarah’s been really candid in volunteering specifics about what is, in places, a very personal play and simultaneously really encouraged the company to find themselves within the play, to find their own paths. Early on, she mentioned to the cast that she wrote poems before plays and she thinks that gives her writing a “roominess”. There is not one way!
Without giving away any spoilers, can you give us a brief outline of the storyline?
Eurydice’s fallen in love with Orpheus, she has a way with words, and he plays the most beautiful music in the world. They are a pretty dreamy couple. On their wedding day, Eurydice is tempted away from the celebrations by a mysterious stranger who claims to have a letter from her dead father. What results is a trip much greater than down the aisle… all the way down into the topsy-turvy Land of the Dead. There she finds a river that makes you forget your own name, a tiny tyrant on a hobby horse and a chorus of stones. Can she find her way? Will she get back to Orpheus?
In the mythical tale of Eurydice & Orpheus, Orpheus carries the weight of the storyline. How is Eurydice’s character developed in this play?
You have hit on something I absolutely love about the play. In the classical version, at least in the versions that survive, Eurydice does not have much to do except wait for Orpheus to come and rescue her! At last, we get a chance to see what Eurydice’s journey might have been. Eve Ponsonby, who plays Eurydice, is absolutely brilliant in the role: capturing all the humour and the heart of trying to make this epic journey, as the world slips away from her at every step.
The source of this tragic love story is from the classical era of male dominated playwriting, does Sarah Ruhl sprinkle a dose of feminist fairy dust over this myth?
In the classical myth, Orpheus’ journey to the land of the dead hinges on his unique, musical ability—a feat that only he can achieve. But in Sarah Ruhl’s adaptation, Eurydice embarks on her own journey to the underworld, navigating and making sense of the strange world below. Sarah reframes the story to be less about a singular ‘hero’s journey’ and more about an experience that is both extraordinary and deeply universal.
What I find remarkable about Sarah’s approach is the way tragedy and farce sit side by side. Is that feminist? I believe it is. Certainly, women are rarely allowed to exist in that ‘heroic’ mode. It is also much truer to life. Anyone who has been through real loss knows that life does not let you slip off to the side to mourn. Rather it rushes forward, and your attempts to keep your head above water descend into absurdity, even flat-out slapstick. That mix of profound emotion with moments of farcical reality feels deeply true to women’s experiences, and to the human experience as a whole.
Jermyn Street Theatre has a history of staging Greek classical drama. What are the qualities in Greek storytelling that keeps drawing audiences back in do you think? And what is it about Greek drama that interests theatre-makers enough to develop these plays?
Greek storytelling is both epic and human. And of course it connects to the audience. That is so true in our gorgeous theatre. The magic is that we are all there in the same room together. I think there is something deeply comforting in knowing that the questions that we are asking have been asked by our predecessors for thousands of years. I went with my mother to Epidavros a few years ago. It was such a powerful experience, there is this electricity to the place. And indeed, Tina Torbey’s beautiful set has echoes of Epidavros in it.
You have been working with Jermyn Street Theatre since 2017, what makes Jermyn Street Theatre so special? What was your background before joining JST?
Jermyn Street Theatre is truly one-of-a-kind: the only studio theatre in the heart of London, founded 30 years ago. When our Executive Director Penny Horner came down the stairs for the first time and saw not what was (a disused changing room) but what could be: a jewel of a theatre where actors and audience would share space, where plays and productions could afford to take risks and audiences could afford to see first class theatre at affordable prices. Before joining Jermyn Street Theatre, I lived in New York, directing new plays across the U.S. I was very fortunate to work with James Macdonald over a sustained period of time and his approach continues to be a guiding light. I grew up in London and there is something very special about getting to make theatre in my hometown.
Do you have a favourite play that you would love to be involved with?
Oh, there are so many! Two that are constantly on my mind are Top Girls and The Skin of Our Teeth. Next year, I am thrilled to be directing an urgent and brilliant new play by one of my favourite writers, though I can’t reveal who just yet.
In the meantime, I am honoured to be involved with the Women in Theatre Lab, a fantastic pipeline programme inspired by successful initiatives in the U.S. and Australia aimed at achieving gender equity on stage. I recently had the privilege of visiting this year’s cohort, and their work is nothing short of extraordinary. The 2024 cohort includes incredible talents like Emma Baim, Nina Berry, Millie Bloom, Titilola Dawudu, Karis Kelly, Rafaella Marcus, Charlotte Small, Sumerah Srivastav, Naomi Sumner Chan, and Elle Van Lil. I’d encourage anyone to check out the full lists of both the long and short-listed plays—they’re all truly remarkable. You can find them at Women in Theatre Lab’s website.”
Eurydice runs at Jermyn Street Theatre to 9th November. For more information and to book tickets visit http://www.jermynstreettheatre.co.uk/
BIOGRAPHY
Stella Powell-Jones became Artistic Director in 2022, but Jermyn Street Theatre has been part of her life since she joined in 2017 as the building’s first Carne Deputy Director. Prior to that, she spent ten years in the U.S. directing new plays. When she moved home to London, she found an artistic home in Jermyn Street Theatre.
