MCLA Theatre Program to present 'Eurydice'

11:05AM / Thursday, April 09, 2026Print Story | Email Story

NORTH ADAMS, Mass—Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts' (MCLA) Theatre Program announced its upcoming production of "Eurydice," by acclaimed playwright Sarah Ruhl, under the direction of MCLA Theatre Professor Laura Standley.

Performances will take place in the College's Venable Theatre April 16-18 at 7:30 p.m. and April 19 at 2 p.m. Performances are free and open to the public.

According to a press release:

Inspired by the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, Ruhl's imaginative play retells the story from Eurydice's point of view. After dying suddenly on her wedding day, Eurydice finds herself in the strange and dreamlike Underworld, where language is undone, memories are erased, and she is unexpectedly reunited with her long-dead father.

What begins as a playful love story becomes a poignant meditation on grief, identity, and the fragile threads that connect us to the people we love.

"Sarah Ruhl's play asks us to think about the ways we hold onto the people who shape us," said director Laura Standley. "At its heart, ‘Eurydice' is about the relationship between a daughter and her father, the complexities of unresolved loss, and the power of art to connect the living and the dead."

Student performers and designers collaborate to create a shifting landscape between worlds, where familiar rules of time, space, and language unravel, stated a press release.

The production features performances by MCLA theater students and is supported by a team of student designers, stage managers, and technicians working alongside faculty and guest artists. Guest artist Tom Truss appears as Eurydice's father. Acclaimed designer Charles "Chip" Schoonmaker serves as costume designer for the production, working alongside MCLA alumna Elizabeth Rodio '21, who returns as costume shop manager. Pete Wise serves as sound designer and composer, creating original music for the production.

The MCLA Theatre Program produces a range of theatrical works each season, providing students with hands-on experience in performance, design, and production while engaging audiences with bold contemporary theater.

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North Adams Becomes a Purple Heart Community

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
05:16AM / Tuesday, August 11, 2026

Veterans Service Officer Kurtis Durocher, a Purple Heart recipient, tells his own story of how he was wounded in Iraq.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — City leaders last week held a ceremony marking the city as a Purple Heart Community to honor local military service members wounded or killed in combat.

"This designation is much more than a sign that will stand at the entrances to our city," said Kurtis Durocher, Northern Berkshire veterans service officer at City Hall on Friday. "It is a lasting commitment and a promise to this community. We'll never forget the sacrifices made by those who are wounded or killed while serving our nation. It is a public declaration of the courage and sacrifices of combat wounded. Veterans will always have a place of honor here in North Adams."

As a Purple Heart Community, North Adams will place signs throughout the city acknowledging the designation. The city will also hold a ceremony every Aug. 7 on National Purple Heart Day.

During the inaugural ceremony, Durocher said he was asked by the Military Order of the Purple Heart to find a keynote speaker for the event, preferably a Purple Heart recipient. But he was unable to find someone willing to speak. With the date approaching, he decided to tell his own story.

"I don't like standing up and telling my own personal story ... But I realized, in my position as a VSO, I get so many ... children of veterans who will say, 'I didn't know anything about my father until after he passed because he just didn't talk about it,'" Durocher said. "... I have been that way until I've gotten into this position, and so, now, I try to tell my story as much as I can when it is brought to me."

Durocher served in the Army for 20 years and retired as a master sergeant. On Friday, he recalled a time early in his career while serving in the 82nd Airborne Division deploying to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. On Sept. 12, 2003, his squad was conducting a patrol on Route Irish in Baghdad. He was serving as a gunner on an LMTV when it was struck by a 155-millimeter artillery shell. He said the explosive had been hidden behind a guardrail and detonated using nothing more than a washing machine timer.

"In an instant, everything changed. The blast knocked me unconscious. When I regained consciousness, I instinctively was removing my helmet," he said. "Almost immediately my training took over. We had been taught repeatedly that attacks like this were often followed by a secondary attack or an ambush. I quickly put my helmet back on and began searching for my machine gun."

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