EURYDICE at Jermyn Street Theatre

★★

“Occasionally it feels as though the actors, lost in their own underworld, are making it up as they go along”

“Orpheus was beginning to get very tired of sitting by his girlfriend on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice he had peeped into the book she was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, ‘and what is the use of a book,’ thought Orpheus, ‘without pictures or conversation?’

Apart from the name changes, the opening line of Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ would slot neatly into the stage directions of Sarah Ruhl’s reimagining of “Eurydice”. There is an almost childlike absurdism to the language. A kind of existential nonsense.

Eurydice and Orpheus are at the seaside: a couple of awkward teenagers, looking at life in different ways, but not really looking at each other. She is into her books; he just cares for his music. A bit of an odd couple. They don’t come across as being madly in love with each other at all, so when Orpheus pops the question, it feels like another game.

Meanwhile, Eurydice’s dead father is preparing his wedding speech. He obviously can’t attend the wedding, so he drops the letter down to earth, only for it to be picked up by the bowler-hatted, interesting yet sinister Lord of the Underworld. He picks up the letter, then promptly picks up Eurydice as she escapes her wedding party for a breath of fresh air. Eurydice follows him to his high-rise apartment where things get a bit uncomfortable. Tragedy strikes, and while Eurydice trips on the stairs to her death, the show itself plunges further into a rabbit hole of surrealism.

Ruhl’s intention is to take the focus away from Orpheus and to tell the story through Eurydice’s perspective. She certainly gives her more stage time, but we remain somewhat confused as to whom we should be paying attention to. Eve Ponsonby reliably portrays Eurydice as a woman stuck between two different worlds, but the audience are lodged between differing viewpoints. She has crossed the River Lethe in the Underworld thereby forgetting her earthly existence, even her husband’s name. Her journey of love, loss and grief (although without the memory – what is there to grieve?) is one that she must take on her own, yet we cannot escape the prominence of the men. Especially her father, played with conviction by Dickon Tyrrell. Keaton Guimarães-Tolley’s Orpheus is less secure and lacking passion. Joe Wiltshire Smith, as the Lord of the Underworld, has the most fun. Described as a nasty, interesting man, he is by far the most interesting character onstage. Not so much nasty as sinisterly bonkers. A warped Jimmy Clitheroe through the looking glass.

The narrative is underscored with interjections from the ‘stones’, played with a Pythonesque inanity by Katy Brittain, Tom Morley and Leyon Stolz-Hunter. Bizarrely dressed like creepy nuns, they are not so much a chorus but an echoing backing vocal. The timing of their delivery is often out of kilter, lending further banality to their presence – which we had already begun to question.

Director Stella Powell-Jones bravely takes on all the idiosyncrasies of the script but, even at under an hour and a half, the story still drags – weighed down further by its inconsistencies. Occasionally it feels as though the actors, lost in their own underworld, are making it up as they go along. We do wonder what world Ruhl is creating, and while we admire the ideas that shape her interpretation of “Eurydice”, we are not truly inspired to dig deeper. Curiouser and curiouser we aren’t.

EURYDICE at Jermyn Street Theatre

Reviewed on 8th October 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Alex Brenner

Previously reviewed at this venue:

LAUGHING BOY | ★★★ | May 2024

THE LONELY LONDONERS | ★★★★ | March 2024

TWO ROUNDS | ★★★ | February 2024

THE BEAUTIFUL FUTURE IS COMING | ★★★★ | January 2024

OWNERS | ★★★½ | October 2023

INFAMOUS | ★★★★ | September 2023

SPIRAL | ★★ | August 2023

FARM HALL | ★★★★ | March 2023

LOVE ALL | ★★★★ | September 2022

CANCELLING SOCRATES | ★★★★ | June 2022

ORLANDO | ★★★★ | May 2022

FOOTFALLS AND ROCKABY | ★★★★★ | November 2021

EURYDICE

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★★

“In a brave attempt to revive this monumental classic, Big Boots Theatre Company has left behind the very context which makes the characters who they are”

John Osborne’s ‘Look Back in Anger’ changed British theatre almost overnight. In a post-war culture of deference, audiences who had enjoyed the comfortable entertainment of Coward and Rattigan were to be challenged by a generation struggling to find their place and purpose. Through his protagonist, Jimmy Porter, Osborne’s articulate ranting demonstrates the resentment, frustration and helplessness of the new, state-educated lower classes who now had the knowledge, perception and language to break into the world of the privileged. Threatened by untethered feelings, the literary upper class scorned this ‘scum’ who dared consider themselves worthy of expression. But Osborne had already paved the way for the future writers.

Director, Sebastian Palka’s, interpretation of the script steers away from the theme of anger, offering perseverance, striving and non-conformism instead. However, the outcome is more of a picture that the world is unfair but life goes on. Rather than the aggressive vehemence normally associated with Porter’s outrages, James D Fawcett’s Jimmy tends towards the menacing coolness of a psychopath. He raises his voice only a handful of times and comes across as disengaged with the external influences and attitudes which are what is fuelling his hatred. His unpredictable mood swings are essential to show the traits which make him attractive. From Alison, played by Rowan Douglas, we get a confusing lack of reaction to the negative comments thrown at her by her husband. There is no seething silence as she irons his shirts or sense of loss or even relief when she leaves. In addition, her friend Helena (Holly Hinton) is played with such a Wildean extreme of properness that Alison appears not particularly upper class. Cliff (Aaron Bennett) is the most sympathetically watchable but hardly develops during the play. His devotion to Jimmy at the beginning must be noticeable to understand why he feels ousted when Helena moves in. Their play-fighting and dancing should be a release of tension and reinforcement of their friendship, not awkward stage directions. Jimmy Porter’s anger is a symptom of ‘the system’ and his own personal wounds. While he attacks those closest to him, they, in turn, should reflect the qualities which attracted them to him. Unfortunately, this production fails to create any convincing bonds and the effect is an underwhelming story of relationships.

The set design (Marta Anna Licwnko and Tina Torbey) is thoughtful in its detailed impression of things being askew – the asymmetrical window, slanted shelves and fragment of a bed. But, trying to update the present political agenda with a pile of ‘Metro’ tabloids representing the ‘posh papers’ is to misunderstand the dilemma faced by the likes of Jimmy and Cliff, the intellectual misfits.

In a brave attempt to revive this monumental classic, Big Boots Theatre Company has left behind the very context which makes the characters who they are and, consequently, gives the play its emotional tenacity. It is a huge ask for emerging young actors to take on complex roles like these. Anger is a powerful, untenable energy which inevitably needs to be unleashed. Yet the cast never really let go and abandon themselves to the passion and fury which made ‘Look Back in Anger’ the landmark it is. These raw emotions and biting attacks on society are why it changed British playwriting. Without them, it’s missing the point.

Reviewed by Joanna Hetherington

EURYDICE at Jermyn Street Theatre

★★

“Occasionally it feels as though the actors, lost in their own underworld, are making it up as they go along”

EURYDICE at Jermyn Street Theatre

Reviewed on 8th October 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Alex Brenner

Previously reviewed at this venue:

EURYDICE

EURYDICE

White Bear Theatre

Reviewed – 27th February 2020

★★

“In a brave attempt to revive this monumental classic, Big Boots Theatre Company has left behind the very context which makes the characters who they are”

Reviewed by Joanna Hetherington

Look Back in Anger

White Bear Theatre until 14th March

Previously reviewed at this venue: