<\/p>\n
Playwright Sarah Ruhl gives the classic story of Orpheus and Eurydice a new interpretation in \u201cEurydice,\u201d presented by Palo Alto Players.<\/p>\n
Rather than focus on musician Orpheus’s efforts to retrieve his deceased wife, Eurydice, from the underworld, Ruhl makes Eurydice the center of attention. In Ruhl’s version, Eurydice (Sarah Moser) reunites with her father (Scott Solomon), who has been trying to contact her. Father is a character invented by Ruhl.<\/p>\n
Orpheus (Wes Gabrillo) goes to the underworld to bring his wife back. However, the Nasty Interesting Man\/Child (Evan Michael Schumacher), who rules there, tells him she will follow him back to the upper world, but if he looks back, she’ll die again.<\/p>\n
Director Jeffrey Lo has assembled a solid cast, which also includes Maureen O’Neill, Monica Ho and Monica Cappuccini as the Chorus of Stones in the underworld. He also has a good design team with the set by Janny Cot\u00e9, lighting by Nick Kumamoto, costumes by Tanya Finkelstein and sound by Jeff Grafton.<\/p>\n
However, neither strong acting nor first-rate designs can overcome the production’s slow pace and the plot’s lack of compelling interest, thus making the 90 minutes without intermission seem much longer.<\/p>\n
It’s a disappointment after Ruhl’s more successful plays, such as \u201cDear Elizabeth,\u201d \u201cDead Man’s Cell Phone\u201d and \u201cThe Clean House.\u201d<\/p>\n