A book club, but for plays! We will meet every month to discuss a play from the Library for the Performing Arts circulating collection.
Play Club is like a book club, but for plays! Whether you are familiar with the art of reading plays, or looking to expand your appreciation for dramatic literature, this book club is an opportunity to read plays you have been meaning to explore or have never considered reading before. Learn about new works, discover new playwrights, and make friends!
This group will read one playscript from the Library for the Performing Arts circulating collection every month, and then come together to discuss the work. We will read one scene from the play together and discuss the text in a book club discussion format.
This program will take place in person at the Library for the Performing Arts Harvey Fiertsein Theatre Lab. If you would like to participate in an online version of the Play Club, join us on Monday, March 23rd on Zoom.
This program is intended for adult patrons.
Thursday, March 26 at 6:30pm - Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl
In Eurydice, Sarah Ruhl reimagines the classic myth of Orpheus through the eyes of its heroine. Dying too young on her wedding day, Eurydice journeys to the underworld, where she reunites with her beloved father and struggles to recover lost memories of her husband and the world she left behind. A stunning play that breathes fresh life into one of our oldest myths while exploring the potency of language, the ways memory shapes the self, and the transformative power of love and grief.
Sarah Ruhl's fifteen plays include the Pulitzer Prize finalists The Clean House and In the Next Room (or the vibrator play), also nominated for a Tony Award. Her awards include a MacArthur Fellowship, and her book of essays 100 Essays I Don't Have Time to Write was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Eurydice, named one of the 25 best American plays of the past 25 years in 2018 by the New York Times, was developed into an opera with music by Matthew Aucoin, and performed at The Metropolitan Opera in 2021. Her most recent book, Smile: The Story of a Face, was published in 2021 by Simon & Schuster. Ruhl teaches at the Yale School of Drama, and lives in Brooklyn with her family.
We have a few copies of the play available at the Library for the Performing Arts, but if you are looking for additional copies, the Drama Book Shop has graciously set aside copies of the play at a discounted price of 10% off for Play Club attendees. (While supplies last.) Please visit the Drama Book Shop to purchase your copy.
Photo Credit: From left, Mark Zeisler, Ramiz Monsef, Gian-Murray Gianino, Carla Harting and Maria Dizzia in Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl. Photograph by Joan Marcus, 2007. Billy Rose Theatre Division.
ASSISTIVE LISTENING AND ASL | ASL interpretation and real-time (CART) captioning available upon request. Please submit your request at least two weeks in advance by emailing accessibility@nypl.org.