Urša Majcen, Sašo Vollmaier, Jan Krmelj, Iztok Kovač:
Orpheus and Eurydice, poetical spectacle

Running time: The performance lasts approximately 105 minutes.

One of the most striking myths about love beyond death, dating back to ancient Greece, is the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. In an attempt to bring Eurydice back to life, Orpheus decided to go to the land of the dead. He gained passage by charming with music both the three-headed Cerberus, the monstrous watchdog of the world of the dead, and the elderly ferryman Charon, who took him deeper underground on the River Styx. Orpheus’ song was so heartbreaking that even the ruler of the underworld, Hades, and his wife Persephone, were moved to compassion. He was allowed to take Eurydice back with him, but on one condition – he was forbidden to look back while still in the land of the dead. The couple climbed up toward the opening into the world of the living. Unable to hear Eurydice’s footsteps, Orpheus broke his promise. The last thing he saw was Eurydice’s vanishing pale face.

The tale of undying love, a source of inspiration to numerous artists since ancient times, also has a dark side. The vast majority of its representations features Orpheus as the central figure, and Eurydice merely as his silent and passive companion. Poet and playwright Urša Majcen’s adaptation turns the myth upside down and casts Eurydice as the main protagonist. Is returning to the world of the living really a salvation for Eurydice? Did anyone ask her if that was what she wanted? 

Urša Majcen’s Eurydice sends a clear message: she no longer wants to participate in the game controlled by Orpheus, she will discard the role that calls for passivity and silence, she will end the story of sacrifice for the myth of the suffering and omnipotent artist. In other words: she will remain dead. In making her decision, she speaks for all the women who have lost their voice or their lives in the name of love or art. In the Underworld, Orpheus encounters both mythological and historical figures. For the writer Virginia Woolf, the poet Sylvia Plath, and the playwright Sarah Kane – as for Eurydice – the world of the dead is a place to search for a room of one’s own and liberation from social roles. Roles that suffocated and restricted them during their lives, prompting them to make a renunciation similar to the one voiced and substantiated by Urša Majcen’s Eurydice.

Rather than destructive, Eurydice’s rejection of the myth is reflective and emancipatory. In discussion with Persephone, Orpheus finally recognises this too, and sees the myth from a new perspective. He realises that he never truly knew his one love, the woman he descended to the land of the dead for, because he failed to really see or hear her. Above all, he failed to understand that she wanted to have a voice of her own and not just be an inspiration for his. Eurydice now makes him realise his mistake and stop repeating the old and long-outdated patterns of social relations.

 

Based on a stage adaptation by Urša Majcen and a musical score by composer Sašo Vollmaier, the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice receives a brand new reimagining. At the intersection of different media and artistic processes, the director Jan Krmelj and choreographer Iztok Kovač address the themes of death and afterlife. Bringing together members of the MGL – Ljubljana City Theatre ensemble and the En-Knap dancers, the show ultimately draws parallels between the mythological underworld and our home planet, ravaged by climate change and wide-ranging cataclysms. Would Eurydice have a place to return to, even if she wanted to? And what must be done to ensure the survival of love, art, and life on Earth?

Petra Pogorevc, dramaturge of the performance Orpheus and Eurydice

Jan Krmelj (1995) is one of the most accomplished Slovenian theatre directors of the younger generation, as well as a poet and audiovisual artist. He graduated in directing from the Academy of Theatre, Radion, Film and Television Ljubljana in 2018 with a production of Schimmelpfennig's Idomeneo, and already during his studies published his first poetry book, Relikvije dihanja (2014). Known for his prominent theatre work that blends poetry, philosophy and visual art, Krmelj has directed numerous plays, including Žabe (MGL, 2022), The Arsonists (SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2021), Proslava (SNT Maribor, 2020) and Razpoka (MGL, 2023), for which he received the Borštnik Award for Best Director. His productions often include multi-media elements and explore contemporary themes through experimental forms.