Is it Worth Trying if You're Destined to Fail?

Anaïs Mitchell's Hadestown

Reeve Carney as Orpheus
and Eva Noblezada as Eurydice

The story of Orpheus and Eurydice has captured our imaginations for centuries. As humans, we are entranced by the idea of a love so strong, yet so weak. How could Orpheus journey to the Underworld for Eurydice, yet fail to make it out? It's a delightfully ironic contrast in that the strength of his love for Eurydice is the very thing that forces him to turn back, thereby acting not only as his driving force but also as his weakness. 

This story has been told time and time again, yet the 2019 Broadway release of Anaïs Mitchell's Hadestown put a new spin on it. While still utilizing the same characters and plot as past retellings, Hadestown pulled in major design aspects from the New Orleans Great Depression Era. There is heavy coal mine imagery (which did work against the directors in some regard when it came to the racial issues of the show), and much of the music takes inspiration from 1920s-1930s jazz. While these historical ties enhance the setting, they also emphasize further the story's deep illustration of how the strength of a love does not always guarantee a good outcome, and, sometimes, seals its demise, as well as urging the audience to love in a new way.

"It's a sad tale, it's a tragedy. It's a sad song."

This particular rendition of the story is narrated by a somewhat modernized Hermes (André De Shields in the Original Broadway Cast), who has taken Orpheus under his wing as the son of a former friend. This is a smart move on Mitchell's part, as Hermes was typically portrayed in Greek mythology as the messenger god. Here, he acts as the messenger of the story as the only cast member who directly addresses the audience at any time. This sets him above and almost outside the story, as he informs the audience that he has told this story dozens of times and will tell it again, always hoping it will turn out differently.

"It's a sad song, but we sing it anyway. 'Cause here's the thing: To know how it ends and still begin to sing it again as if it might turn out this time."

This repetition of the story reflects back to the railroad setting. The opening, "Road to Hell," begins with several musical elements that are repeated throughout the rest of the show, but it also opens with the characters imitating the sound of a train with a "Chugga chugga chugga chugga / Chugga chugga chugga chugga." Trains and railroads are elements that contribute heavily to the show, as they reflect the literal journey Orpheus and other characters take. On the other hand, the journey of the train to Hadestown reflects a larger journey: the arc of the story. A train is bound to a single track, and even when provided with other directions of travel, it cannot stray from the paths predetermined for it. It just goes on in circles until the person driving or feeding it grows tired. In this same way, no matter how many times Hermes tells the story, it will continue to end the same way. Orpheus will always turn back. 

This same circular nature is reflected in the music of the show. The show is sung-through, which is made clear by the smooth transitions between songs. However, not only does the song follow a smooth path, it flows in a circle, just like the train and the story. The second to last song is a reprise of the first, utilizing many of the same lyrics, and literally restarting the story by recreating the opening scene and opening lyrics, recreating all of the characters arriving and being introduced. This draws the story to a close by turning it back to the beginning and telling the audience that "we're going to sing it again and again and again." 

"And I know how it was because he was like me. A man in love with a woman."

Finally, the circular nature is demonstrated by the fact that the progress of the story reveals that not only does the line "it's an old song, it's an old tale from way back when" apply to Orpheus and Eurydice's story, but it also applies to the parallel story of Hades and Persephone. Orpheus and Eurydice's story is a reflection and retelling of Hades and Persephone's story. The many layers of this circle present a delightful angle of storytelling. 

Reeve Carney as Orpheus
and Eva Noblezada as Eurydice

In this way, Hades and Persephone are foils for Orpheus and Eurydice. Their stories are entangled, yet also reflect each other. In both, there is an aspect of love based on sight and presence. Both Hades and Orpheus fall in love and are determined to marry their respective girl before even having a conversation with her. Also, both of them had the same downfall: the strength of their love. While Orpheus's innate connection with Eurydice visually and his necessity to keep her safe forced him to turn and thereby doom them both, Hades's love for Persephone turned him into a bitter and jealous man, as he, like Orpheus, hated separation from his lover. On the other hand, both Eurydice and Persephone long to escape from their realities. Eurydice craves freedom from the poverty she has always lived in, while Persephone searches for comfort in alcohol and familiar sunlight to escape the darkness of Hadestown. Both couples illustrate a man in love with a woman yet forced to be separated from her. This is shown most clearly in "Epic III," where the two narratives are finally tied together as one through Orpheus's song. 

This element of foil between the two couples provides a really interesting contrast. We see the two paths these lovers can take. On Hades's side, his separation from his lover made him possessive and cruel. On Orpheus's side, his original separation from Eurydice only strengthened his love and led him to go after her in rescue. Ironically enough, it is Hades who gets a happy ending. Had Orpheus loved Eurydice any less, might he have been able to resist turning to her? But in that case, even if they had survived, they wouldn't appreciate each other to the fullest extent.

"So, just how far would you go for her?"
"To the end of time. To the end of the earth."

That's the nature of the tragedy of the story. Orpheus and Eurydice's love for each other was so strong and so beautiful that it could make flowers bloom, yet it destroyed them. The deepest vein of the tragedy is that, just as we're told, it will never end differently. No matter what reasoning is given for Orpheus turning around, he always turns around. He will never make it out of Hadestown without looking to make sure she's there. Whether it's that he couldn't see her, he was scared Hades had tricked him, he called and she didn't answer, he lost his grip on her hand, or he thought he heard her call out behind him, Orpheus will always turn. They will never make it out together.  

"Orpheus, are ya listening? I'm right here and I will be to the end, and the coldest night of the coldest year comes right before the spring."

Orpheus will always turn around because he loves Eurydice. No matter what excuse is given, at its base is the fact that he loves her, and cares about her security. And this is the final, core theme of the story. Orpheus's love for Eurydice is so deep that he has to let her fall from his grip. All of his actions, even his mistakes, are driven by his love for Eurydice. He initiates their first interaction because he loves her. He is so focused on his song that he loses her because he loves her and wants to find a way to feed her. He walks to Hadestown and back for her because he loves her. He fights a god for her and risks his life, even after she betrays him, because he loves her. And when he is leading her home, he turns because he loves her and has to make sure that she's okay. The tragedy of it all is bittersweet.

Did Orpheus regret turning around? Did he look back and wonder in horror how he could do such a thing? Or did he look at Eurydice resigned to his fate, well aware that it couldn't have worked out any other way? Did he look at her and feel peace, knowing that even though he had lost her, he had almost saved her? Mitchell chooses not to tell us. Instead, she just echoes a prior line, using the same words both the first time Orpheus and Eurydice saw each other in Hadestown and the last time.

"It's you."
"It's me."
"Orpheus."
"Eurydice."

This leaves it open to the audience's interpretation. After the two have their final separation and Eurydice sinks under the stage, they don't speak to each other again. We're forced to face the same fate of circular repetition that the characters feel. By taking us through this tragic narrative, we're forced to hope the same thing as Hermes and Persephone, that next time the story will work out better, while also holding the bitter knowledge that it won't. 

"I can't promise you fair sky above, can't promise you kind road below. But I'll walk beside you, love, anyway the wind blows."

Overall, the musical is a beautiful recreation of a well-loved and too-little-known story. A beautiful, bittersweet recreation that demonstrates a kind of love that is hard to find in today's world. Are we holding back? Are we resisting love, instead piling up our homes with the stuff of the world? What brings us true joy? Is it financial stability, or having physical comfort? Is it filling our homes with beautiful things? Those may bring happiness, but what brings joy is strong, deep relationships that fill our hearts, not our houses. We ought to love so deeply that we destroy ourselves, rather than boxing ourselves off and building up walls. That's the message this story portrays at its root. Yes, Hades had everything, but at the same time, he had nothing. He was alone. 

On the other hand, Orpheus and Eurydice had nothing in a physical sense. They were cold, they were poor, they were tired, they were hungry. Yet they chose to return to that fate when they left Hadestown, because they knew they would have each other, and they knew the extent to which that love lasted. Is it not better to love like that, to live in the midst of every dark thing, than to have an empty heart and a full home? Even when they lost each other for good, it was in acceptance. They both knew that despite their loss, they had been loved in a way deeper than they had ever known or been able to fairly reciprocate. And that is why the tragedy matters. 

Reeve Carney as Orpheus
and Eva Noblezada as Eurydice

"He could make you see how the world could be, in spite of the way that it is."

We as audience members need to see the illustration of such a powerful love, the terrible tragic ending and the neverending cycle of sorrow, because we need to see what potential we have. We need to see the way we could love. This is why we sing the song again and again and again. This is why the narrators and characters feel so led to keep telling and keep trying. Because they're desperate not only for a new ending for themselves but for someone else. They are desperate for someone else to love as tragically as they do. They're desperate for more than change within their narrative. They're desperate for change in the hearts of the audience. We are the heartless, soulless, empty workers and wanderers building the wall, locking ourselves in the depths of Hadestown. Orpheus and Eurydice are attempting to lead us out. We can choose whether we follow them or stay behind, and we can choose whether we follow in their footsteps and love the way they did despite their failure to make it to freedom. That's why we sing it again and again and again: because maybe this time it'll turn out right.

"We'll show the way. If we can do it, so can they."