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For

Immediate Release: September 3, 2015Theatre Media Contact: Kimberly Reilly, 610-519-7454, [email protected]

Villanova’s Eurydice transports audiences to a mythical, magical underworldJames Ijames directs Sarah Ruhl’s iconic re-telling of the ancient Greek myth

VILLANOVA, PA – Villanova Theatre proudly presents Sarah Ruhl’s poetic reimagining of the classic Greek myth, Eurydice, directed by James Ijames and on stage September 22–October 4, 2015. On the heels of Sarah Ruhl’s successful keynote address at the Philadelphia Theatre Research Symposium this past spring, Villanova Theatre is thrilled to stage this iconic work by one of America’s leading female playwrights.

Life and death exist side-by-side as we follow Eurydice across the river Styx and into the underworld where she reunites with her departed father and struggles to relearn the language of the living. Eurydice’s husband Orpheus risks his own life when he resolves to sing Eurydice back to life by following her into the depths of Hades. Eurydice must then decide whether to follow Orpheus out of death or to remain with her beloved father in her strange new home. In Eurydice, nothing is what it seems – although everything seems familiar in this bittersweet story that features a rain-filled elevator, talking stones, and a portrait of hell where the devil rides a child’s tricycle.

Ruhl’s re-telling of this classic tale emphasizes a strong female voice by reassigning the original narrative of the classic Orphic myth from the male voice to the female heroine. Set in a time reminiscent of the mid-twentieth century, when women were encouraged to look pretty and leave the thinking to the man, this piece playfully examines female agency in a male-dominant culture. Written in dedication to Ruhl’s deceased father, the story also explores the connection between a father and daughter; unbroken even by death.

Setting the tone for this whimsical play is Villanova professor James Ijames, who made his Villanova Theatre directorial debut with last season’s Michael and Edie. An award-winning actor, playwright, director, and recent 2015 Pew Fellow, Ijames seeks to highlight the themes of “reclaiming identity and renewing relationships—but to do so through the lens of an Alice in Wonderland-esque looking glass. We really travel down the rabbit hole together on this one, and the story contains elements that will speak to each and every one of us differently.”

A seasoned team of inventive designers joins Ijames in creating the visual and aural world of this “rhapsodically beautiful” play (The New York Times). Three-time Barrymore Award winner Janus Stefanowicz’s costumes evoke the fashion of time gone by with stylish elegance and retro simplicity. Parris Bradley designs an industrial-inspired, transformative set that connects the realm of the living with the world of the dead. Lighting designer Jerold Forsyth and sound designer Alex Bechtel complete this exciting team of artists to create a visual fantasy world supported by a soundscape reminiscent of the past.

Ijames directs a gifted ensemble who will bring this beautiful fable to life: second-year graduate student Rebecca Jane Cureton (Eurydice), acting scholar Stephen Tornetta (Orpheus), first-years Kevin Esmond (Father), Chris Monaco (Nasty Interesting Man), and a chorus of Stones played by second-year Megan Rose and first-years Elizabeth Meisenzahl and Rachel O’Hanlon-Rodriguez.

Eurydice runs at Villanova Theatre from September 22nd- October 4th, 2015. Villanova Theatre is located on the Villanova University campus in Vasey Hall (at Lancaster & Ithan Aves.). Performances will be held Tuesdays – Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets run $21-$25, with discounts available for seniors, students, M.A. in Theatre alumni, and groups. Tickets may be purchased at the Villanova Theatre Box Office (M-S, 12 -5 p.m.) in person, by phone: (610) 519-7474, or online at www.villanovatheatre.org.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Page 1800 Lancaster Ave. • Villanova, PA 19085

610.519.7474 (box office) • 610.519.7454 (admin) • 610.519.6803 (fax) • theatre.villanova.edu

James Ijames, M.F.A, is an Assistant Professor of Theatre and a Philadelphia-based actor, director and playwright. He has appeared regionally at Arden Theatre Company, Philadelphia Theatre Company, the Wilma Theater, Baltimore Center Stage, and InterAct Theatre Company. Ijames's plays include The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington, Moon Man Walk, The Threshing Floor,and Osiris:Redux. His Barrymore Awards include the 2011 F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Theatre Artist, Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Play for Superior Donuts and Angels in America, and, most recently, the 2014 Barrymore for Outstanding Direction of a Play for his work on The Brothers Size. In 2011, Ijames received an Independence Foundation Fellowship in Performing Arts to train and create a new solo piece with Emmanuelle Delpeche and Shavon Norris called FRoNTiN. This summer, Ijames was granted a 2015 Pew Fellowship. James is a member of the InterAct Core Writers Group and a mentor for The Foundry. He received a B.A. in Drama from Morehouse College in Atlanta,and an M.F.A. in Acting from Temple University. In his second year on the faculty of Villanova's Theatre Department, Ijames teaches Acting and Collaborative Theatre Making.

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHTSarah Ruhl’s Plays include In the Next Room, or the vibrator play (Pulitzer Prize finalist, Tony Award nominee for best new play), The Clean House (Pulitzer Prize Finalist, 2005; The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, 2004); Passion Play, a cycle (Pen American award, The Fourth Freedom Forum Playwriting Award from The Kennedy Center); Dead Man’s Cell Phone (Helen Hayes award); Melancholy Play; Eurydice;Orlando, Demeter in the City (NAACP nomination), Late: a cowboy song, Three Sisters, and most recently,Stage Kiss and Dear Elizabeth. Her plays have been produced on Broadway at the Lyceum by Lincoln Center Theater, off-Broadway at Playwrights’ Horizons, Second Stage, and at Lincoln Center’s Mitzi Newhouse Theater, and downtown at Clubbed Thumb and Classic Stage Company. Her plays have been produced regionally all over the country, with premieres at Yale Repertory Theater, the Goodman Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theater, Arena Stage, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Madison Repertory Theater, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Cornerstone Theater, and the Piven Theatre Workshop in Chicago. Her plays have also been produced internationally in London, Germany, Australia, Canada and Israel, and have been translated into Polish, Russian, Spanish, Norwegian, Korean, German and Arabic. Originally from Chicago, Ms. Ruhl received her M.F.A. from Brown University where she studied with Paula Vogel. In 2003, she was the recipient of the Helen Merrill Emerging Playwrights Award and the Whiting Writers’ Award. She was a member of 13P and of New Dramatists and won the MacArthur Fellowship in 2006. She was recently the recipient of the PEN Center Award for a mid-career playwright, the Feminist Press’ Forty under Forty award, and the 2010 Lilly Award. She is currently on the faculty at Yale School of Drama and lives in Brooklyn with her family.

ABOUT VILLANOVA THEATREVillanova Theatre is a community of artist-scholars committed to transforming hearts and minds through the visionary production of classical, modern, and contemporary dramatic literature. Our work is fueled by the imaginative striving common to Villanova’s accomplished faculty, versatile staff, and energetic graduate students. Together, we are devoted to creating a vibrant theatre enriched by and overflowing with the ideas explored in our classrooms. In all of our endeavors, we aim to share the dynamic experience of collaborative learning with our audiences in order to engage the intellect and stir the soul. As a facet of Villanova University, Villanova Theatre serves the campus community as well as thousands of theatre-goers from the Main Line and the Greater Philadelphia area.

ABOUT VILLANOVA UNIVERSITYSince 1842, Villanova University’s Augustinian Catholic intellectual tradition has been the cornerstone of an academic community in which students learn to think critically, act compassionately and succeed while serving others. There are more than 10,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students in the University's six colleges – the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Villanova School of Business, the College of Engineering, the College of Nursing, the College of Professional Studies and the Villanova University School of Law. As students



grow

intellectually, Villanova prepares them to become ethical leaders who create positive change everywhere life takes them.



FACT

SHEET FOR EurydiceWRITTEN BY: Sarah Ruhl DIRECTED BY: James Ijames

WHERE: Villanova Theatre, Vasey Hall, Villanova University WHEN: September 22 – October 4, 2015 800 Lancaster Avenue, Villanova, PA 19085 ***Free parking available in VU’s Main Lot (Lancaster & Ithan Avenues)

WEEK ONETue 09/22, 8pm (Preview)Wed 09/23, 8pm (Opening)Thu 09/24, 8pmFri 09/25, 8pmSat 09/26, 8pmSun 09/27, 2pm

WEEK TWOTue 09/29, 8pmWed 09/30, 8pmThu 10/1, 8pm (Speaker’s Night)Fri 10/2, 8pmSat 10/3, 8pmSun 10/4, 2pm (Closing)

SPECIAL EVENTS: Speaker’s Night, 10/1: Please join us for a lively post-show discussion with the director, dramaturg, cast, and crew of Eurydice at Villanova University.

TICKET PRICES: $21.00 Preview; $23.00 Weekday (Tue/Wed/Thu); $25.00 Weekend (Fri/Sat/Sun) ***Discounts Available for Seniors, Students, M.A. in Theatre alumni, and Groups.

TICKET INFORMATION: Buy online at villanovatheatre.org; Call 610-519-7474; Purchase in person at our box office in Vasey Hall (open M-F, 12-5 p.m.)

CASTEurydice: Rebecca Jane CuretonOrpheus: Stephen Matthew TornettaFather: Kevin EsmondNasty Interesting Man: Chris MonacoStones:

Megan RoseElizabeth MeisenzahlRachel O’Hanlon-Rodriguez

CREATIVE TEAMDirected By: James IjamesScenic Design: Parris BradleyCostume Design: Janus StefanowiczLighting Design: Jerold R. ForsythDramaturg: Meghan TreleaseSound Design: Alex Bechtel

CALENDAR LISTING (+/- 100 WORDS): Descend into a mythical underworld replete with talking stones, Hades on a bicycle, and a glowing river of the dead. In Sarah Ruhl’s fantastical reimagining of the classic Greek myth, we join unsung heroine Eurydice as she parts with the love of her life, journeys into death, reunites with her departed father, and struggles to relearn the language of the living. Called “an inexpressibly moving theatrical fable about love, loss and the pleasures and pains of memory” by The New York Times, Eurydice looks like a dream, sounds like a poem, and feels like the breath of life.



VILLANOVA THEATRE’S 2015- 2016 SEASON

Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl September 22nd- October 4thdirected by James Ijames

Descend into a mythical underworld replete with talking stones, Hades on a bicycle, and a glowing river of the dead. In Sarah Ruhl’s fantastical reimagining of the classic Greek myth, we join unsung heroine Eurydice as she parts with the love of her life, journeys into death, reunites with her departed father, and struggles to relearn the language of the living. Called “an inexpressibly moving theatrical fable about love, loss and the pleasures and pains of memory” by The New York Times, Eurydice looks like a dream, sounds like a poem, and feels like the breath of life. Macbeth by William Shakespeare November 10 – 22, 2015directed by James J. Christy “Something wicked this way comes” in Shakespeare’s masterpiece of manipulation, murder, and mayhem. Macbeth transports audiences to a mystical world where dark forces drive the hearts of men. When three witches predict Macbeth’s ascension to the throne, he and his scheming wife start slashing their bloody path to power, armed with violence, deception, and ruthless ambition. The Bard’s most thrilling tragedy boils over with spine-tingling tension, hair-raising encounters with the supernatural, and diabolical characters whose lust for power results in their inevitable downfall. When Macbeth “rushes headlong into the hurly-burly,” it doesn’t stop, and “every breath starts to feel like a gasp” – The New York Times.

A Wonderful Noise Book by Michael Hollinger February 9th-21st, 2016Story, music, and lyrics by Michael Hollinger and Vance Lehmkuhldirected by Harriet Power As World War II rages in Europe, a different battle looms at home, as barbershop quartets from around the country converge to harmonize their way to victory at the national championships in St. Louis. But one group’s handlebar mustaches conceal an explosive secret: they’re actually four young women from Philadelphia, determined to break the Barbershop Society’s gender barrier and prove that the girls can do it just as well as (if not better than!) the boys. This heartfelt musical comedy celebrates the bonds of friendship and music-making, as well as the courage required to live and love in a precarious world. With its screwball storyline, witty lyrics, and tuneful Swing Era score, A Wonderful Noiseevokes the pleasures of a 1940s musical with a 21st-century spin!

Translations by Brian Friel April 12th – 24th, 2016directed by Valerie Joyce Irish treasure Brian Friel’s most celebrated play follows English soldier and cartographer George Yolland to the town of Baile Baeg, where he finds himself falling in love with the local language and a local lass. But can their love flourish as Empire and colony collide? Translations navigates the peaks and valleys of love, communication, and the quest for freedom — taking audiences on a journey across cultural and



political boundaries. Hailed as a “modern masterpiece,” Friel's captivating play begs the question: is the language of the heart universal?



Documents

BIGLOVE_Press Release.docx.docx - villanovatheatre.orgvillanovatheatre.org/.../uploads/2015/04/Eurydice-Press-… · Web viewAs World War II rages in ... and tuneful Swing Era score,