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THEATER REVIEWS
Orpheus and Eurydice: A Musical Odyssey for Young People Vultures dance and all the silkworms sing While the female chorus readies Eurydice for the ceremony, she begins to get cold feet. She questions Orpheus' notion of "romantic" love -- it seems he spends his time cavorting around in the woods, singing his songs to beasts and flowers, hills and trees- -to everyone and everything, in fact, but Eurydice! Orpheus is in love with the idea of love, but is he truly in love with her? The wedding takes place and, during the dance which follows, an increasingly confused Eurydice wanders alone into the forest, where she encounters a sinuous and sexy snake, who offers to free her from her doubts and fears: Eurydice, seduced and embraced by the slithery dance, is taken off to Hades, land of the dead. The Gods' messenger Hermes brings the unhappy news to the assembled wedding group, and Orpheus, realizing how much he does love Eurydice, resolves to bring her back to the world. As his journey to Hades begins, Orpheus must first cross the river Styx. He encounters Charon, the Fagin-like boatman: Charon grants Orpheus passage for the price of a song, and he descends into the 'underground moribund town' of Hades, where he must pass Cerberus, the comically creepy three-headed canine gatekeeper of Hades: Inside the gates Orpheus sees the torture of the dead souls, including Tantalus, doomed to eternally struggle for food and water placed just out of reach, and Sisyphus, who continually pushes a rock uphill nearly to the summit where, as if with a mind of its own, the rock returns to the bottom. He is granted audience with King Hades, who, in "It's Never Enough", reveals that the reasons for the mass torture lie in his own feelings of inadequacy: Orpheus sings a petition for Eurydice's return to life, and with the beauty of his music the torture momentarily stops--even King Hades is moved. He agrees to allow Eurydice's departure, with the condition that Orpheus must not look at her until both have returned to the world above. Eurydice, unaware of Hades' terms, tells his wife Persephone of her fears of return to life with so many unanswered questions about her relationship with Orpheus. Persephone, in the song "Balance in Season", relates the story of her own marriage, in which she must spend half the year away to find peace. As the couple begins their journey home, Eurydice asks Orpheus to turn and look at her; to convince her truly that he really sees her for herself. He does so--there is a fleeting moment of recognition and connection, but Eurydice, who has violated Hades' agreement, must remain below forever. Orpheus, back in the world, finds comfort in the fact that the two will someday be reunited in Hades, wiser about the true nature of their love. Orpheus and Eurydice was performed on a bare stage; the cast consisted of thirty-odd young actors (including three as Cerberus, and one as Sisyphus' stone!) ranging in age from four to about fifteen. Composer Cohen, also a performer in the pit band, led the energetic young cast through a remarkable variety of musical styles- - jazzy sixties tunes; Sondheim-like Broadway numbers; traditional ballads; even classical arias-- all accessible and catchy. The choreography and costuming were simple yet evocative, using masks, flowing cloth, and the movement of the chorus to create a notion of the stylized symmetry of "traditional" Greek theatre for theatregoers largely unaccustomed to such performances, while maintaining a pace and fluidity appropriate for younger and more contemporary audiences. The opera was given six performances to full and appreciative houses. The work is a happy blend of the classical and the contemporary. It utilizes elements drawn from myriad styles and genres to create an event which is engaging, humorous, and above all, thought- provoking. While entertaining for the youngest audiences, there is enough meat in the lyrics to allow those more adult spectators to come away affected and even inspired. And, possibly, humming the tunes as well. Cohen's Orpheus and Eurydice is a welcome new gem in the diadem of the repertoire of work for children and, "If All Goes Well", will receive the enthusiastic reception and recognition which is its due. Dana D. Buck The University of Michigan Dana Buck is an actor, a director, and a museum technician.
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Didaskalia Volume 1 Issue 3 - August 1994 / edited by Sallie Goetsch and Peter Toohey / University of Warwick / ISSN 1321-4853 |
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