Introducing... Our Newest Stone!

Welcome to Kaitlyn Lamb our newest Stone!

In taking the show to KCACTF, we had to replace one of our cast members. We were sad to loose Amber Cummings, who was so wonderful as the maiden Stone.  We’ve been lucky to get Kaitlyn Lamb to join the Eurydice team to be the new Stone. It’s a big challenge to ask someone to step into an existing show and only two weeks before opening night too! Here’s what Kaitlyn had to say about her experience so far:

I was super excited when I made the show because I remember watching it and thinking this play is crazy awesome. I had never seen anything like it and I'm just so happy to now be in it. The cast is amazing and I felt totally welcomed in by everyone. It was a bit challenging to jump into the play because we only had two weeks to work on it. It's looking great now and I can't wait for us to go to KCACTF and rock it.  

If you’ve seen the show, you know the Stones are one of the more unusual and compelling parts of the play. I asked some questions of Jessamyn Svensson, who plays one of the Stones about the intricacies of playing a Stone:

Jess in performance of Eurydice

As an actor, how have you approached the role of a stone? What has been its biggest challenges?

I approached this role by creating a character through my own history and life experiences. The most important thing for me about this role is keeping as emotionally honest as I can because the story is too important to be lost in over analyzing or thinking too much about it.

How has the director's concept of the stones as the Crone, Matron, Maiden Fates or Norns affected the role and the play for you?
 

As the crone, at first it was difficult to understand how to portray that without resorting to stereotype, it became more important to show how long my character has been in the underworld and what that meant. Was I more disconnected, was I more angry and bitter? 

 What purpose do the stones hold in the play? Why do you think they are in the play?

The stones are a throwback to old Greek plays. The chorus used to narrate offstage deaths and stuff. The stones in this show however, represent the stages of acceptance of our own mortality (if that makes sense). We still narrate, but it's more a stylistic choice than anything else I think.  

Do you think having all female stones significantly changes the play?

Yes, the female presence in the play I think places the attention and focus onto the relationships that Eurydice has with her father and husband, the fact that we are all women playing stones makes US relate a little more and think about our own relationships we had with the men in our lives before we died.

What stone symbolism is in the play? What does it say to you?

"Stone" for me is symbolic of how we as humans desire to be when dealing with pain and loss. We try and be stoney in our emotions and expression. It's a natural defense mechanism. So when we tell Eurydice to "act like a stone" because "being sad is not allowed" it's because that's how we dealt with our own pain.

Thanks to Jessamyn and Kaitlyn for sharing their thoughts – and thanks to the whole cast and crew – we’re excited to see the show this weekend at Mountain View High School: Thursday and Saturday at 7:30.