“Metamorphoses,” the College of William and Mary’s latest theatrical production, combines timeless Roman stories updated for the modern era with a distinctly physical form of storytelling and eight tons of onstage water. The play runs Feb. 22-25 at Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall.
“It’s a contemporary adaptation that relies on very contemporary ideologies blended with the classical sensibilities,” set designer Matthew Allar said. “The hope is that it feels very immediate and linked to the contemporary.”
In the 1996 Tony award-winning “Metamorphoses,” playwright and director Mary Zimmerman re-imagined Ovid’s Roman myths in a contemporary context, playing off the human hopes and flaws that remain constant some 2,000 years later.
Director Elizabeth Wiley, an associate theater professor at the college, is emphasizing physical theater and the way in which movement complements verbal expressions in her adaptation. She teamed up with dance professor Joan Gavaler to help bring this vision to life as the play’s movement director.
The play relies heavily on water, centering around 16,000 pounds of the liquid flowing through an onstage pool as a backdrop requiring ample pre-production work. The water helps symbolize characters changing and offers an opportunity for reflection.
“I’m not really used to dealing with an inherently kinetic liquid structure,” Allar said. “It’s an opportunity.”
Allar and his assistant, David Garrett, built a model of the set to help coordinate the concept.
“The show and the scenic design present exciting challenges for the lighting and costume designers,” Wiley said, citing the water’s reflection of lights and the effect of wet clothes as examples.
The production features a dozen actors, all seniors in the college’s theater program, and as many staff carpenters helping bring the set to life with the help of students.
Allar said he was inspired by the likes of Joseph Cornell, a surrealist artist and experimental filmmaker, hoping to create a “small, delicately crafted world.”
Wiley said the elaborate production relates to the college’s larger mission of experiential learning.
“We’re engaged with that in a profound way,” she said.
The story of “Metamorphoses” focuses on a power-hungry billionaire out of touch with the important things in life.
“I think that’s an element that’s really permeating our society right now,” Wiley said. “He’s a very Trump-like character.”
“Metamorphoses” aims to tackle universal themes such as love, loss, greed and loneliness.
“These are all things that I think we’re all struggling with,” Allar said. “It allows an experience that’s personally unique to each person.”
The hope is that this adds up to a story spanning millennia, as resonant now as ever.
“I think that’s why we’re drawn to stories that are hundreds of years old,” Wiley said. “Each person is going to find something.”
Want to go?
“Metamorphoses” runs Feb. 22-25 at Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall. Admission is $15 for adults, $12 for military and $7 for students or children. Tickets are available at the Phi Beta Kappa Hall box office by calling 221-2674 or online at wm.edu/boxoffice.
