The Artistic Home will return from its “pandemic pause” with a production of Sarah Ruhl’s EURYDICE, to be performed at The Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Avenue. Artistic Director Kathy Scambiatterra will direct Ruhl’s version of the ancient myth, which differs from the many previous dramatic treatments of the story in that she tells it from the perspective of Eurydice rather than Orpheus. Dying too young on her wedding day, Eurydice must journey to the underworld, where she reunites with her father and struggles to remember her lost love. With contemporary characters, ingenious plot twists, and breathtaking visual effects, the play is a fresh look at a timeless love story. The press opening is Thursday, October 28 at 7:30 pm, following previews on Saturday, October 23 at 7:30 pm, Sunday, October 24 at 3 pm, and Wednesday, October 27 at 7:30 pm. The production will then play Thursdays through Sundays through November 21, 2021.
EURYDICE had its world premiere at Madison Repertory Theatre, Madison, Wisconsin in 2003, and following high profile productions at Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Yale Repertory Theatre, it opened off Broadway at the Second Stage Theatre in 2007 and at the Young Vic in London in 2010. It since has enjoyed hundred of productions by theatre companies of all types.
Appearing in the title role for The Artistic Home will be Karla Corona, an Artistic Home company member who was seen in the company’s World Premiere of VANYA ON THE PLAINS in 2019. Her father will be played by Javier Carmona, seen pre-pandemic in Aston Rep’s THE CROWD YOU’RE IN WITH. Cast as Orpheus is Steven Cooper, who was assistant director of the company’s acclaimed production of WEDDING BAND. Playing the “Nasty Interesting Man” will be Todd Wojcik, a company member who appeared as Army in The Artistic Home’s Jeff Award-winning REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT. The chorus of “stones” will be Will Casey (most recently of the Windy City Playhouse hit NOISES OFF) as Big Stone, Alexander McRae (of PrideArts’ HOLDING THE MAN) as Loud Stone, and Ariana Lopez (of VANYA ON THE PLAINS) as Little Stone.
Upper row L-R: Javier Carmona, Will Casey, Steven Cooper, Karla Corona.
Lower row L-R: Ariana Lopez, Alexander McRae, Todd Wojcik.
The production team includes Kevin Hagan (Scenic and Lighting Design), Zachery Wagner (Costume Design), Petter Wahlback (Sound Design), Randy Rozler (Properties Design), Julian Hester (Assistant Director), and Jac Pytlik (Stage Manager).
Scambiatterra explains some of the reasons the company chose EURYDICE for their first full production after the pandemic. “EURYDICE is that reach back, that looking back one more time to hold on to what we've lost; to commemorate wonderful, beautiful life, its pleasures and problems, its transcience and pain so that we can triumph over the experience of this pandemic and do it together in a shared theatrical experience full of poetic beauty and much-needed humor.”
Ticket prices for EURYDICE are $34 general ; $15 student; $15 preview. and will be on sale soon through The Den Theatre Box Office. The Artistic Home performs at The Den Theatre, and also maintains an acting studio and rehearsal space at 3054 N. Milwaukee Avenue in the Avondale/Logan neighborhood.
EURYDICE
By Sarah Ruhl
Directed by Kathy Scambiatterra
October 23 – November 21, 2021
Previews Saturday, October 23 at 7:30 pm, Sunday, October 24 at 3 pm, and Wednesday, October 27 at 7:30 pm.
Press Opening Thursday, October 28, at 7:30 pm
Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30pm and Sundays at 3pm.
The Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago
Ticket prices $34 general; $15 student; $15 preview.
Tickets available soon at www.thedentheatre.com, or by phone at 773-697-3830
More information at www.theartistichome.org
Whisked down to the underworld on her wedding day, Eurydice tries to make sense of her memories and her passions, and poignantly reconnects with her long-dead father, even as her heartbroken groom seeks to wrench her back into the life she left behind. Ruhl’s atmospheric play combines off-kilter, playful comedy with a wistful yearning for meaning and human connection. THE NEW YORK TIMES’ Charles Isherwood, in reviewing the play’s 2007 production at New York’s Second Stage Theatre, called it “a weird and wonderful new play.”
BIOS
Sarah Ruhl (Playwright). Ms. Ruhl’s plays include STAGE KISS; 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, (Pen American award, The Fourth Freedom Forum Playwriting Award from The Kennedy Center), DEAD MAN’S CELL PHONE (Helen Hayes Award), MELANCHOLY PLAY (a musical with Todd Almond), EURYDICE, ORLANDO, DEMETER IN THE CITY (NAACP nomination), LATE: A COWBOY SONG, THREE SISTERS, DEAR ELIZABETH, and most recently, THE OLDEST BOY and FOR PETER PAN ON HER 70TH BIRTHDAY. 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. Her plays have been produced regionally all over the country, with premieres often at Yale Repertory Theater, the Goodman Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theater, and the Piven Theatre Workshop in Chicago. Her plays have also been produced internationally and have been translated into over twelve languages.
Originally from Chicago, Ms. Ruhl received her M.F.A. from Brown University where she studied with Paula Vogel. An alum of 13P and of New Dramatists, she won a MacArthur Fellowship in 2006. She was the recipient of the PEN Center Award for a mid-career playwright, the Whiting Writers award, the Feminist Press’ Forty under Forty award, and a Lilly Award. She proudly served on the executive council of the Dramatist’s Guild for three years, and she is currently on the faculty at Yale School of Drama. Her book of essays on the theater and motherhood, 100 ESSAYS I DON’T HAVE TIME TO WRITE, was a Times Notable book of the year. She lives in Brooklyn with her family.
Kathy Scambiatterra (Director) is Artistic Director and co-founder of The Artistic Home. As a director, she has helmed acclaimed, Jeff nominated and After Dark Award-winning productions for The Artistic Home including ROCK ‘N’ ROLL, THE SCHOOL FOR LIES, WAITING FOR LEFTY, IN THE BOOM BOOM ROOM, ANGEL CITY, AFTER THE FALL, STREET SCENE, PEER GYNT, THE MADWOMAN OF CHAILLOT, THE PETRIFIED FOREST, MODIGLIANI, DAYS TO COME, THE TOUCH OF THE POET, THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA, THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE. Other directing credits include THE COPPERHEAD (City Lit) ANGEL CITY, WELCOME TO THE MOON AND OTHER PLAYS (LA Dramalogue Award), A CHRISTMAS CAROL (Pacific Resident Theater (LA). Her Chicago stage acting credits include THE SEAGULL, INTERROGATION, WATCH ON THE RHINE, BEATEN, THE AMERICAN PLAN, SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH, THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH, LOOK HOMEWARD ANGEL, JUNO AND THE PAYCOCK, NATURAL AFFECTION, ORPHEUS DESCENDING (The Artistic Home); THE GLASS MENAGERIE, NELSON ALGREN LIVE, THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK (Steppenwolf); BROADWAY BOUND (Drury Lane Oakbrook); A FLEA IN HER EAR (Chicago Shakespeare); ROMEO AND JULIET (Goodman Theatre), among others. Regional credits; THE QUICK-CHANGE ROOM (Pacific Resident Theatre). TV/Film credits: recurring role on CHICAGO PD (NBC; Dick Wolf Productions), PHILIP K. DICK’S ELECTRIC DREAMS(Amazon), GOOD GUY WITH A GUN (One Shot Productions; Independent), MONUMENTS (Zaxiefilms; Independent), INTO THE WAKE (Independent; Diesel Brothers), THE APPOINTMENT, DRAGGAGE, and SIN COLLECTOR. She has received four leading role Jeff nominations for work in SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH, NATURAL AFFECTION, ABUNDANCE, THE SCHOOL FOR WIVES. Ms. Scambiatterra is the director of the actor training program at The Artistic Home Studio. In addition, she has taught at The School at Steppenwolf, Columbia College, Center Theater's The Training Center, Chicago, IL; Carolyn Berry Studio, The Pacific Resident Theatre LA, CA; Director’s Symposium, US Army, Heidelberg, Germany; Screen Training Ireland, Dublin, Ireland; and currently at Chicago High School for the Arts, Classical Conservatory.
ABOUT THE ARTISTIC HOME
The Artistic Home is noted for their innovative and intimate presentations of rarely produced classics as well developing new works. The company was one of the big winners in the 2019 Jeff Awards, with four awards including Production of a Play, Director of a Play, Principal Performer in a Play, and Sound Design, all for REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT. Brookelyn Hebert won a Jeff as Principal Performer in a Play for the company’s 2020 production of ADA AND THE ENGINE. The company was nominated for Jeff Awards in 2019 for ROCK ‘N’ ROLL, and in 2018 for HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE. Other memorable productions of recent years include 2017’s WEDDING BAND, BY THE BOG OF CATS and THE SCHOOL FOR LIES; their Jeff-nominated productions of THE SEAGULL, WATCH ON THE RHINE, MACBETH and THE LATE HENRY MOSS; and their 2013 Jeff Award-winner THE GODDESS. Other Artistic Home productions include the Jeff-Award-winning production of JUNO AND THE PAYCOCK, which also received three After Dark Awards, the Jeff-Nominated SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH, THE TALLEST MAN, LANDSCAPE OF THE BODY, NATURAL AFFECTION, FIVE WOMEN WEARING THE SAME DRESS, AFTER THE FALL and PEER GYNT (which also received an After Dark award for Direction).
For more than 23 years, The Artistic Home has consistently produced compelling theatre in Chicago. First formed in 1998 with the belief that the actor is at the heart of great theater, the company strives to give birth to unforgettable moments; to touch audiences who are increasingly distanced from human contact; to readdress the classics and explore new works with passion.