Plan Z Theatre Brings EURYDICE to Vancouver Fringe Festival Tonight

Plan Z Theatre presents EURYDICE by Sarah Ruhl, running tonight, Sept 10, through the 20th, 2015.

Why this play? This play is quirky and lighthearted except for when it's not. Themes of pain and memory pulsate under the sometimes silly, sometimes beautiful, sometimes irreverent events of the play. In this adaptation by one of America's most respected living playwrights, Eurydice tumbles down into the Underworld where she meets three Stones, The Lord of the Underworld, and is reunited with her Father. Her husband Orpheus then braves the barriers of hell to retrieve her, forcing Eurydice to face a horrible choice between the two men she loves most. We are excited about the space for artistic choice this play leaves. We will be experimenting in movement, with u!nderscoring by Ryan Scramstad.

Sarah Ruhl's plays are widely known for their beautiful use of language, bold humanity, and unexpected, bizarre turns. She has received many awards in her relatively short career, including the Helen Merrill Emerging Playwrights Award, and a Pulitzer Prize nomination, and recently the PEN Center Award for a mid-career playwright, the Feminist Press' Forty under Forty award, and the 2010 Lilly Award. The emotional center of this play is EURYDICE's dynamic, loving relationship with her long lost father, which Ruhl says was inspired by the r!ecent passing of her own father.

EURYDICE will be directed by Eleanor Felton. Eleanor is a director, actor, and choreographer. She holds a BA in Theatre from TWU and has spent the last year as a directing apprentice at Pacific Theatre, where she recently directed Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew.

"Sarah Ruhl is one of my favorite playwrights. Her plays are funny, insightful, and slightly abstract. I am entranced by the lyricism of her writing in EURYDICE and the heartbeat that runs throughout it as Eurydice is pulled in three different directions by the men that she loves. I am excited to find the beauty and temptation that the Underworld offers in contrast to the life of the Overworld. It scares me that I!am not sure which one is more attractive."

Playing Eurydice is 2015 Ovation award nominee Julie Casselman (Outstanding female Newcomer). Julie is a Vancouver based actor, composer, and sound designer. As an actor you may have seen her star as Ursula in D!arling, a Musical (Springboard), or Jo in Little Women (FCP), or in The Great Divorce (Pacific Theatre)!

Showtimes: Sept. 10 - 5pm, Sept. 11 - 10:30pm, Sept. 12 - 1:55pm, Sept 13 - 6:45pm, Sept 17 - 5pm, Sept 18 - 7pm, Sept 19 - 8:45pm. Playing Sept. 10-20 at Pacific Theatre, 1440 W 12th Ave. For tickets, go to tickets.vancouverfringe.com. Tickets are $14 for Fringe members. Call 604-866-5321 or email [email protected] for more information.

Pictured: Julie Casselman as Eurydice. Photo by Mikaela Fuqua.

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