Starring Zeus, Aphrodite, Apollo, and Midras, this weekend's production of Mary Zimmerman's "Metamorphoses," has quite a stellar cast. The Pen, Paint and Pretzels (3Ps) show consists of ten episodes adapted from Ovid's collection of poems of the same name, written in 88 A.D.
Zimmerman originally wrote the play in 1996 as a college production for her students at Northwestern University. She modernized Ovid's language and reworked some of the characters to create an accessible and moving play for a present-day audience. The play has since been performed on Broadway and was nominated for a Tony in 2002 for Best Play.
The show's director, junior Jessica Fisch described the concept of the play as being "ten stories bookended by the journey of one character."
While each story is independent from the others in plot, all are connected by a common theme: love. The audience will see, however, that this sentiment is not limited to love between a man and woman. Ovid and Zimmerman also explore love of money, love of family, love for others in the tales.
Not all of the stories have a lovely ending, however. "All of the characters make mistakes in not seeing or not having love," Fisch said. "Some regain it, some don't."
As suggested in the play's title, metamorphoses also show up fairly frequently in the stories. Almost every major character undergoes some sort of change during their scene, be it physical or emotional.
Fisch also hopes the audience will undergo a metamorphosis of their own during their time in the Arena. "If they are wary of the classic text, they'll be won over," she said.
It is this use of classic characters and stories to deliver a timeless message that drew the director to the show in the first place. Zimmerman's decision to work with poetry written in the first century "made me think about whether these myths still had any bearing," Fisch said.
The metamorphosis of "Metamorphoses", the playwright's modern interpretation of the ancient text, helps make Ovid's tales more accessible to an audience of mere mortals whose experience with Greek mythology likely consists of little more than semi-annual toga parties.
Sophomore actress Molly O'Neill explained Zimmerman's efforts to make the characters of Ovid's text come to life. "Mythology typically relies on stereotypes," she said, "but this interpretation lends itself to a deeper reading."
Special efforts were made by the director and actors to make these characters from long ago feel as real as possible. The director provided Ovid's original text in addition to Zimmerman's script in some cases to provide greater insight into certain characters and
stories.
"Metamorphoses" is designed as an ensemble piece, and as such every actor in the cast of ten plays multiple roles throughout the production. Narrators, humans, gods, and goddesses contribute to the retelling of each tale, and though a few major characters make reprise appearances, each story has its own distinct cast and plot.
Surprisingly, keeping track of the names and faces of each character is an easily surmountable hurdle. In a wise move on the part of the stage direction god, all the gods and goddesses enter and exit from Mount Olympus, which serves as the backdrop to the action of the play.
Slightly fantastic costuming for the gods and goddesses also helps differentiate them from the mortals of the tales.
The costumes as a whole create what junior Luke Brown, the costume designer, described as a "vaguely historical" feel without limiting it to one identifiable era. Brown intends the pieces to be "agents of metamorphoses" within the show.
Juxtapositions abound in "Metamorphoses." The melding of ancient and modern, simple and spectacular, heartbreak and joy, gods and humans all contribute to the universal lessons the production conveys. The audiences' inability to pin down the production in any of these areas allows it to transcend setting and time and exist simply as an agent of edification and emotion.
