EURIDICE SAGT - Orfeo

DIRECTING CONCEPT:
Orfeo’s music makes him a myth — an artist whose emotions shake worlds. He descends into the underworld to bring Euridice back from the dead. But who is she really? Not a muse or side character: we want to give her presence and a voice.

Inspired by Elfriede Jelinek’s Shadow. (Eurydice Says), our piece Euridice Says brings Euridice out of the darkness. We double-cast her, and her text fragments offer a personal account that challenges Monteverdi’s Orfeo-centered narrative. Her answers and contradictions question Orfeo’s love: does he love Euridice, or the intensity of his own feelings?

Our Orfeo is no villain, but emotionally trapped, unable to listen. His narrow focus blinds him to others. Only at the end does he turn back — realizing too late that the world he longs for is lost.

COSTUME CONCEPT:
Orfeo’s world is shaped and controlled through music. The upper world belongs to him: it shifts with his emotions, and its colors, forms, and the changing tone of the chorus reflect the constant transformation he imposes on his surroundings. The chorus becomes a barometer for atmosphere, time, and emotional direction, mirroring Orfeo’s inner state.

This upper world remains abstract and fluid so the audience can stay open to Orfeo’s internal journey. Euridice, too, is affected by this unstable environment: she appears influenced, blurred, and at times overshadowed by Orfeo’s emotional and musical force. She exists within a space that is continually defined by him.

The underworld, however, is Euridice’s world. In contrast to Orfeo’s fluid upper world, it is concrete, steady, and grounded. Its darkness and clarity create a realm where emotions cannot be stylized or avoided — a space that resists Orfeo’s influence. Here, Euridice is no longer shaped by his music; instead, it is Orfeo who must confront the reality he has tried to escape.