Like Broadway’s long-running Hadestown, Eurydice flips that old story on its head, rewriting Eurydice (Hawke) as the protagonist. We see her move through the lands of both the living and the dead as a confused and imperfect young woman, experiencing the highs and lows of her relationship with Orpheus, played by Caleb Eberhardt. (A typical creative type, his mind always seems to be somewhere else.) Also key to this version of events is the presence of her father (Brian d’Arcy James), with whom she reunites in the Underworld.

Hawke builds her Eurydice with big feelings, speaking wonder into every line like a cross between Alice in Wonderland and Bella Baxter from Poor Things. But in fact, her character’s sweeping journey of self-discovery somewhat mirrors Hawke’s own, as she learns to navigate the thrills and the trials of doing professional live theater. On a break during previews, Hawke spoke to Vogue about it all.

Vogue: Were you previously familiar with any of Sarah Ruhl’s work?

Maya Hawke: Well, the play that made me fall in love with Sarah was Stage Kiss. I don’t know whether or not you read that.

I have not read that one.

I love it. It’s a beautiful, romantic deep play that is just a joy. I got an email about this play and it was an interesting time, because I started Stranger Things when I was 19 and it was coming to an end when I was 26. I almost felt like I was transplanted back to being 19, and where I was when I was 19 was desperate to do theater. That’s what made me want to go to drama school and why I wanted to be an actor in the first place. And all of a sudden, as the show was ending, I felt right back there. Then I got this email [about the play], and I was like, Oh, I think that I’m supposed to go revisit this. I think I’m supposed to go and pay tribute to my 19-year-old self and explore this part of my creativity and skill set and see if I still have that skill set. It didn’t even really feel like a choice.