Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"...If his lovely new production of Sarah Ruhl's "Eurydice" is a guidepost, artistic director Braden Abraham's fresh tenure at Writers Theatre in Glencoe will feature elegant, beautifully designed productions of works suffused with passion, longing and regret. Good for him. The loyal Writers Theatre audience will, I think, appreciate that."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...Accompanying the superlative visuals, the performances have a special rare quality to them - a certainty, a purity, of being who and what they are. As Eurydice's father, John Gregorio is just so very fatherly; as a creepy stranger and ridiculous Lord of the Underworld, Larry Yando is so compellingly creepy and powerfully ridiculous. Susaan Jamshidi, Elizabeth Ledo, and John Lister serve as a chorus to inject explanations of the laws of the post-life, but often with humor. They're stones, you see, but dressed as beach bums, as if the forgetting that comes with death suggests a permanent vacation."
Daily Herald - Highly Recommended
"...Abraham's well-cast, warmly acted production features the winsome, nicely vulnerable, slightly entitled Sarah Price as bibliophile Eurydice and the dreamy, guileless Kenneth La'Ron Hamilton as her beloved composer Orpheus. They are clearly smitten, yet they cannot hum the same tune or find the same beat."
Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended
"...Eurydice succeeds in providing Hamilton a hypnotic showcase, as his poetic, exquisitely graceful Orpheus seems to summon the very music of the spheres, conducting with movements as volatile as a wild ocean and as subtle as the flit of a butterfly wing. But it never really takes flight. Its quirky, profound meditations on loss and love are lost in a muddled story."
Chicago Stage and Screen - Recommended
"...It is primarily a play about love between children and parents, maybe particularly fathers and
daughters, about how people live on in us, the left behind, the fantasy that is part of the
grieving process for so many of us. It was sad and memorable, in part funny and hopeful and
so was a successful production. Despite my not really caring about Eurydice or believing her
love for Orpheus, the strength of Father's acting made me feel all the feels Sarah Ruhl surely intended."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Keenly directed by Braden Abraham on a unique stage/set designed by Courtney O’Neill, we are witness to some strange and yet simple staging. It is the story and the characters that must put all the pieces together, and this is done in a way that grabs you and holds your attention for the entire 90 minutes ( no intermission). Ruhl has made some minor changes to the story, but they have a deep impact on the story. The use of current music ( with some Beatle’s tunes mixed in) truly helps make it modern and will allow younger audience members to “get into it”. The main theme of the story is love and loss as well as grief, but there are times when love and adoration take over."
Chicago Theatre Review - Recommended
"...Writers Theatre opens their new season with Sarah Ruhl's modern version of the familiar Greek myth of Orpheus in the Underworld. Growing up in the far Northern suburb of Wilmette, Ms. Ruhl wrote this very personal one-act as a tribute to her dear father, who had recently passed away from cancer. She recalled that her dad used to take Sarah and her older sister to Walker Brothers Original Pancake House every Saturday. While there he would introduce his daughters to a new word or two. Some of the words he taught Sarah would later became a part of her play."
Rescripted - Highly Recommended
"...I believe Eurydice is in that second stage of its life. And this production was perfectly executed for Eurydice’s first stage of life. It had heart and love and care. It was exactly what I’d expect when seeing a lovely production of Eurydice. From now on, I’m craving for my expectation to be subverted."
Buzznews.net - Highly Recommended
"..."You might cry, you might not," says playwright Sarah Ruhl in the show notes of Writers Theatre's revival of her 2003 play 'Eurydice'. Under new Artistic Director Braden Abraham, there's a youthfulness in both casting and staging that feels like a big breath of fresh air for the Glencoe theatre company. Sarah Ruhl's whimsical dialog appeals to a childlike sense of wonder and her bittersweet version of this classic story may unlock parts of yourself hidden away by grown-up practicalities."
Third Coast Review - Recommended
"...Sarah Ruhl's clever and funny play pulls upon the familiar story; however, as with many of her plays, she manages to turn everything on its head. Whereas the traditional myth focuses more on Orpheus, Ruhl tells the story from Eurydice's perspective. The play explores the highs and lows of love. She explores temptation, as well as what stands in the way of our own happiness. At its center, this is a play not unlike what Eurydice describes in the scene above. This is a story about their lives-sometimes that can turn out well, and other times that can turn out very, very poorly. Perhaps that is just a part of the human condition, and that very realistic outlook sets the tone for Ruhl's adaptation."
Life and Times - Highly Recommended
"...Eurydice at Writers Theatre launches its new season with poetic beauty. New artistic director Braden Abraham shows himself to be capable of absolute brilliance. If his inaugural production as the artistic visionary for Writers Theatre is an indication, the company is on course for an exceptional future."
Evanston Roundtable - Highly Recommended
"...Eurydice, now at Writers Theatre, is playwright Sarah Ruhl's addition to the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Include the special skills of the scenic designer, Courtney O'Neill, and the direction of Braden Abraham, and the result is one innovative and creative evening of theater."
NewCity Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...A benefit of being a theater writer in Chicago is becoming aware of all the fantastic work happening outside the city limits. Writers Theatre in Glencoe proved that the 'burbs got game with their production of "Once" last spring, and they've done it again with "Eurydice," helmed by artistic director Braden Abraham."
