ABOUT HOUSE OF ORFEUS

Blurring the lines of opera, house music, and theatre, Nmon Ford’s House of Orfeus makes its World Premiere in 2025 at New York’s Lincoln Center, directed by Charles Randolph-Wright (DIsney’s The Santa Clauses, Netflix’s Greenleaf, Broadway’s Trouble in Mind and Motown: The Musical).

Set in the near future, this unique production blends house music, theater, and opera into a timeless version of Ovid’s legend. Orfeus confronts his true nature to save the beautiful poet Euridice from his father Pluto, the fascist ruler of a dystopian empire.

Award-winning Nmon Ford plays Orfeus.

THE CHARACTERS

• ORFEUS, a musician and former military assassin

• EURIDICE, a traveling poet

• PLUTO, ruler of Undersphere

• THE FURIES, sister spirits, servants of Pluto

  MEGARA, the Jealous

  ALECTA, the Fierce

  DEMETER, the Avenger

• ATLAS, Orfeus’ friend and fellow warrior

• THE MAYOR, Mayor of Overness

• ARCAS, a political prisoner in Undersphere

• AURORA, gatekeeper of Overness

• CITIZENS of OVERNESS

• CITIZENS of UNDERSPHERE

THE STORY

LOGLINE - Orfeus, a former military assassin turned musician, must decide whether to return to violence after the love of his life is kidnapped by his adoptive father: a vengeful fascist whose realm he escaped. 

As an orphaned child, Orfeus was adopted by Pluto, the fascist ruler of Undersphere who governs his citizens through fear of the outside world. Reared as a military assassin, Orfeus ultimately renounces violence when Pluto orders him to assassinate his friend and fellow soldier, Atlas. He flees Undersphere and meets the poet Euridice on the road to Overness, a land of freedom and passion. Some time later, when Pluto’s military guards—The Furies—inform him that Orfeus has fallen in love with (and married) Euridice and abandoned the life he was raised to live, the jealous dictator orders The Furies to kidnap Euridice, knowing that Orfeus will return to Undersphere to reclaim her. Once Orfeus realizes Euridice is gone, he does indeed determine that Pluto is to blame; swearing that he will stop at nothing to rescue his love, including returning to the violence he rejected, he races back to Undersphere.

Tormented by an apocalyptic nightmare, Euridice abruptly awakens to find Pluto standing over her. After failing to turn her against Orfeus, Pluto tortures her mind and imprisons her moments before ordering The Furies to find Orfeus, torture him into renouncing his love of Euridice, and—if all else fails—curse Euridice with death at the moment she and Orfeus see each other’s eyes. After resisting two Furies (Megara and Alecta), Orfeus is brought before Pluto. They bitterly confront each other; Pluto reveals his pain at being abandoned and unappreciated by his son, and Orfeus lashes out at Pluto for stealing him from his home and raising him to be a soulless murderer. Regaining his composure, Pluto asks Orfeus one last time to reconcile; Orfeus refuses. Pluto summons Demeter to guide Orfeus to Euridice, knowing that the curse will take effect when they meet. Outside Euridice’s cell, Demeter taunts the increasingly desperate Orfeus with the news of Pluto’s curse, then mockingly tells him to open the cell door to greet his bride. In despair, Orfeus sings a song he composed with Euridice on their wedding night. Demeter is so moved by the music that Orfeus is allowed to leave with Euridice, but he is warned not to look her in the eyes until they reach the gates of Overness, or else he will activate the secret, lethal trauma that Pluto planted in Euridice’s psyche when he tortured her.

Orfeus escapes from Undersphere with Euridice, but she begins to wonder why he refuses to look her in the eyes. All the while, Orfeus is afflicted by memories of his violent past that make him doubt his worthiness to live a new life. Becoming agitated and eventually enraged, Euridice grabs him and turns him to face her, mere steps from the safety of Overness. Upon seeing the love in his eyes, she smiles and collapses into darkness, destroyed by Pluto’s evil enchantment, as Orfeus sinks to his knees alone in silent agony.