Sarah Ruhl

"They're all about love and death."

As the director of "Eurydice", my teacher had me research the original director of the play to get an idea of her thoughts and ideas upon creating this modern twist of Eurydice.

Response to Sarah Ruhl Research

A characteristic of Sarah Ruhl's plays are often comedy mixed with sudden tragedy, sadness, and gut wrenching despair. Eurydice is said to have been directed in an "anachronistic postmodern fashion".

"...demonstrates the hallmarks of her writing, namely an 

economy of poetic language reflected in both dialogue and 

stage directions alike; a utilization of tableaux and scripted 

imagery; and extremity of emotional juxtaposition..."

 “Ruhl’s plays are a combination of the avant-garde, Greek myth, lyrical poetry, and magical realism, with a smattering of vaudeville and German expressionism thrown in. It’s a blend that could easily give way to postmodern obscurantism, except that Ruhl has a big heart.”

She incorporates realism with surrealism. Although the scenes may be unlikely and crazy, she wants the audience to feel the emotions of the characters. Ruhl is a very proud feminist playwright. She incorporates women as the main characters and the ones to be the change in history,

"... recasting history through a distinctly feminine lens."

Although this may have been Sarah Ruhl's original take on the play, she still uses an ostranenie method, a Brechtian method that uses symbolism to refer to different points of the original play. She also had purposely incorporated classical Greek theatre devices, such as choral speaking with the stones. 

“The play is really dedicated to my father, who died 

when I was twenty and he was fifty-five…I wanted to 

write something where I would be allowed to have a 

few more conversations with him. A myth exploring 

the underworld and the connection between the dead 

and the living was a way to negotiate that terrain.”

Ruhl wanted to show that the woman's main conflict between lover and father. She didn't want the story's direction to be in the hands of a male, but a woman. Ruhl uses language as a powerful tool throughout her play. Letters are read out loud and used throughout the play as they represent a reconnection between the character and her father. 

Simple Space

The techniques used in Simple Space was...

• open white stage lights
• use of narrator and shared narration
• stylized movement
• visible stage lights
• freeze frames
• use of exaggeration and movement
• narration
• characters with backs to audience
• limited dialogue
• opposing tension

Simple Space was more of a group that focused on physical theatre, it did not focus on a storyline or a specific moral or meaning

Theatre in Context

It did not specifically relate to the culture here in Korea. However, it was extremely acrobatic and used many different yoga techniques for balance, as yoga is similar to Confucius culture, which is prominent here in Korea. 

Theatre Processes

There were many various processes used in the production of this play. Simple Space focused on the physical processes. There was no script or specific language used to translate or interpret. However, the play used a lot of active physical movements that would require the audience to interpret. 

Presentation

There was no specific storyline presented in the story. Therefore, there was no story to present. However, the presentation of the performance was very impactful. There was no specific set design used for the performance, it was set out on an empty stage where the props were brought in and out for the performers to use throughout the performance.

Influences

a. Performer: as a performer I felt the true dedication and intensity of all the actors. They had so much discipline and control throughout their performance, and I was truly appalled at how easy they made each move look. 

b. Creator: as a creator, I felt that the way the actors were able to not only perform their movements with grace, but also with humor and control was very admirable. It made me want to do the same with my theatrical pieces.

c. Designer: As a designer, I felt that the actors did not really use much design in their performance. They did not have a specific costume or clothing that stood out. However, the shapes that were created with their bodies and movements created some design.

d. Director: As a director, I felt that there was so many different tricks and movements happening all at the same time, but behind the chaos, there was order as each of the actors knew exactly where to move and how. I was so impressed with the way that the actors were able to act out with pure discipline and purpose. I had realized that I needed to plan out my performances as a director the same exact way.

As an artist I felt that I could learn to use variety and creativity with movements as well as stricter control and sharper actions. I felt that this kind of play would be cool to have a storyline behind the movements or more purpose. I did not like the way that it was more acrobatic rather than narrative. I learned from the body movement to be more controlled and to have more discipline with different types of movements, and to learn to be more daring with my body. The mis en scene of the play was very space like. It felt as if the actors were defying gravity and the play carried this effect throughout the performance. I felt that there was no one director, the actors all seemed to have practiced doing different movements and acting with and against each other. 

INTENTION Questions

I would like to create a piece of theatre THAT and WILL

the elements of theatricality/mis en scene that i want to use in order for that to happen are