By Judah Taylor

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The ancient tragedy of Eurydice will be retold through a modern, feminist perspective by the UK department of theater, starting Thursday.

The 2003 play written by Sarah Ruhl, “Eurydice,” follows the mythical Greek figure of the same name through death and the afterlife, but gives the character more autonomy than she had in the ancient Greek tellings.

In the original myth, Orpheus descends into underworld to find his bride Eurydice, who dies on their wedding day.

Nearly bringing her back to the upperworld, Orpheus loses Eurydice at the last moment by looking back at her.

In this version, the ending is changed, giving the Eurydice more depth, and transforming long held motifs.

“It’s no longer a love-story between a girl and a boy,” said theater senior Elizabeth Kilcoyne who served as the plays dramaturg, researching the history and themes of the production. “But a story between a daughter and her father.”

In Hades, Eurydice meets her father who died when she was very young.

The play culminates when the female protagonist must choose between the two most meaningful men in her life, her new husband and her father.

“It’s about choice, but it’s also about memories of people you’ve lost,” said director Peter Allen Stone. “It’s about the conversations you can have with someone after they’ve died.”

The play also explores the thoughts of a young playwright who lost her father at 19.

“(Ruhl) knew that her father wouldn’t be there for her wedding when she buys her first house, has her first kid… to me that’s what it’s always been about,” he said. “If you could go back, what would you ask these people, or regret not asking them?”

The play isn’t entirely a tragedy though, Stone and Kilcoyne said the play takes place in a hell that’s reimagined to be more like wonderland from “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.”

“There’s a lot of ideas of magic in the play,” said Stone. “There’s a heightened reality, a little more color.”

The play infuses elements of punk rock, straightedge, loss and love, while taking from many time periods including the ‘50s and 2000s.

“It combines really well,” Stone said. “It’s a different kind of play, not really realism.” Kilcoyne interrupted him. “It’s a skip through wonderland.”