When the curtain rises on “Eurydice” Thursday evening at North Idaho College, audience members won’t just hear music.
They’ll experience the vision of a student who made it all possible.
Evangeline Collett has composed the entire score from scratch for the production that will be presented by the theater department at 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday and April 23-24, and at 2 p.m. April 18 and 25 in the Schuler Performing Arts Center in Boswell Hall on NIC’s Coeur d’Alene campus.
The performances are free and open to the public.
“I’ve never composed for a play before, only for myself, so I’m really excited for this opportunity to be creative,” Collett, a music student from Coeur d’Alene who plays the violin and pedal harp, said in a Tuesday news release. “I’m a perfectionist, so it’s taken a lot of my time over the past two months after my classes.”
Assistant theater professor Adam Kroeger said Collett’s accomplishment featuring modern classical music is almost unheard of at the college level.
“We hope the community comes to see how that work translates into performance,” he said.
Kroeger said the achievement is an example of collaboration across disciplines at NIC that contributes to a mainstage production. The work of NIC art students will be integrated into the play and community members also have acting roles.
“Eurydice” is a modern reimagining of the classic Greek myth, shifting focus from Orpheus’s artistic grief to Eurydice’s personal journey of love, loss and memory. The play by Sarah Ruhl follows Eurydice dying on her wedding day and choosing between her husband and deceased father in a surreal underworld.
Theater major Riley McMahon of Athol plays the lead role of Eurydice.
“I loved mythology before I even knew who Eurydice was,” McMahon said. “I am so honored to portray a role that can resonate with and surprise people with all the emotions this tragedy brings.”
Eric Palomar, a psychology major from Coeur d’Alene, will play Orpheus, Eurydice’s husband who attempts to rescue her from the underworld.
“I’m excited to have this role since it’s challenging to play him in his various mental states, and many scenes I’m alone on stage,” Palomar said. “This role has helped me discover what acting really is.”
Kroeger said attendees will see creativity coming together in an intentional and meaningful way.
“It’s a unique opportunity to experience something that is both artistically rich and genuinely communal,” he said. “And, because the performances are free, it’s an open invitation for everyone to come be part of that experience.”
The Schuler Performing Arts Center is at 880 W. Garden Ave.