Eurydice: Characters and Casting

For certain scripts classical and contemporary, traditional casting is a must. However, today’s acting world is a rainbow of not just ethnicities, but an array of men and women that have special talents and even disabilities. While some casting directors are playing it safe with traditional casting, others are taking the fair hiring route. Even though this topic can be a very controversial subject, some scripts can be performed non- traditionally with no problem. Eurydice is a script that can be equally pleasing whether it is cast non- traditionally or not.

There are seven characters in this re-told Greek myth. Each of whom can be played in at least one non-traditional way. I will focus each character’s chances of being cast non- traditionally on the comprehensive definition of nontraditional casting is the "use of actors of any race, sex, ethnicity or degree of disabilities in roles for which such factors are not germane to the development of stage characters or the play.

Eurydice, the woman Orpheus is in love with can be played by an actor of any color or ethnicity. I believe it is germane to keep Eurydice a female, for the sake of storytelling. Within the script there are several lines that negate the idea of changing the gender of Eurydice. One of the lines that Eurydice has is a wedding is a day for fathers and daughters it is a celebration of the day they stop being married to each other. The idea of changing the lines for a gender swap might make the story line a little less genuine, but in certain instances, it might be perfect, it is all subjective.

Orpheus is the young man whom the myth is about. Again in some instances, gender swapping may be alright, but for the general idea, not changing the gender would be fit for the purposes of storytelling. Orpheus can be portrayed by any type of young man, as long as he is young. Any color or ethnicity would work, and even a young man with a disability can fit in this role.

Nasty/Interesting Man or The Ruler of the Underworld- Again the script is written in a way that does not allow this role to be gender swapped. This character wants Eurydice to marry him too. So for the story line it is germane that this character is a man. However, the man can be any age or ethnicity. On the other hand, it may look like the casting director is trying to reinforce negative ties to certain ethnic groups.

Father, like I stated earlier, because of the way this script is written, it would be best to keep father a father and not turn him into a mother. However, I feel that Father and Eurydice do not have to portray the same ethnicity. I think it would be just fine to have an African American Father and a Eurydice of any other ethnicity.

The three Stones, Big, Little, and Loud. These characters are the Greek Chorus; they can be played as a mix of male/female or as all male all female. Any ethnicities can apply, and even the disabled could be considered for these roles.
http://www.law.umaryland.edu/programs/initiatives/arts/non-trad-casting.html