Pop Smart - Five reasons to see Eurydice

Image courtesy of Alliance Theatre

1. First, the best possible reason: it’s the finest play currently running in Atlanta. Playwright Sarah Ruhl’s contemporary take on the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, running through April 13 on the Alliance Hertz Stage, is a lovely, luminous experience, and my review will run in next week’s Creative Loafing. (I should acknowledge that I haven’t seen the beloved Avenue Q, playing through this weekend, but to me, national tours don’t “count.”)

2. It’s not “difficult.” The title may look forbidding, but it’s easy to pronounce: “You-rid-a-see.” Ruhl and the Alliance Hertz production give Eurydice a familiar, loosely contemporary setting, even though it’s based on the ancient Greek myth about two lovers separated by death.

3. It’s funny. True, it’s a bittersweet experience with its themes of love, loss and treasuring life, but Eurydice also features plenty of big laughs, especially due to Andrew Benator who plays dual roles, “A Nasty Interesting Man” and “Lord of the Underworld,” both of whom are sinister figures but also awkward, childish and dressed in preposterous red outfits.