An inspired and inspiring retelling of classical myths for our burning world.Rating
Excellent!
When Mary Zimmerman’s adaptation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses transferred to Broadway, in the immediate wake of 9/11, many hailed it as a salve for New York City’s open wound. Director Eileen MacDonald’s production of Zimmerman’s play, currently running at the Hammersmith Club, aims to co-opt its healing properties for our own age of anxiety: ‘the world is on fire,’ reads the promotional material, ‘best to return to the water, and begin again.’ It comes as a surprise when this ambitious promise is actually fulfilled by an inspired and inspiring production harnessing the restorative powers of storytelling.
The white and green, golden-gilded space of the vast Hammersmith Club offers the perfect setting for MacDonald’s take on the original. She makes excellent use of this peculiar space, placing the audience on both sides and turning the stage itself into more seating space and an extra entrance for actors. The action takes place occasionally on the high balcony opposite the stage, but mostly in the middle of the long room, in and between the ‘two seven-foot pools’ advertised as a highlight of the production. These were the least convincing aspect of this Metamorphoses. Though water was a central aspect of Zimmerman’s original, its evident waste seemed counterintuitive for a production professing to address the fact that ‘the world is on fire’. It was meagre consolation to notice that the water was rather shallow. A half-empty pool is a sorry sight.
Worse than wasteful, the pools seem largely unnecessary: some remarkable performances from the ensemble cast and the work of movement director Chéri McKenzie are enough to carry the mutable energy of Ovid’s transformation myths. Thanks to clever multi-roling and the episodic nature of the myths, everyone gets a moment to shine. Actor and producer Cameron Quinn Chavers’ interpretation of Hunger, entirely reliant on movement, expression and repetition, is powerfully disquieting. Rachael Dowsett and Shannon Smith are almost too convincing as the incestuous Myrrha and Cinyras, in a brilliantly choreographed sex scene that had the audience visibly cringing in their seats. Equally engaging was the hilarious therapy scene between Lucy Krubiner and Brandon Jewell’s Phaeton, the Sun’s son with daddy issues.
All the comedy and drama of Ovid’s transformations flow together through seamless directing, underscored by a perfect sound design by musician Antony Lam, weaving together Lam’s violin, live singing from the cast, and 1930s hits coming with the static of imaginary radio sets. This nostalgic touch works well with the beautiful, multilayered costumes designed by Amy MacDonald, taking us to a summer’s day outside of memory and time.
Far from detracting from this old-time magic, the natural light streaming from the high windows of the Hammersmith Club adds to the atmosphere, particularly when turning into dusk in the latter part of the play. The falling of the sun seems to mirror the progressive darkening of Ovid’s stories, from loss to desire to destruction to death. But then candles are lit, their warm lights floating on the water. According to the rules of transformation, even the darkest shadows are dispelled eventually.
Writer — Mary Zimmerman, after Ovid
Producer — Cameron Quinn Chavers
Director — Eileen MacDonald
Assistant Director — Austin Evans
Music Supervisor/Sound Designer — Antony Lam
Movement Director — Chéri McKenzie
Intimacy Director — Justin Stirewalt
Fight Director — Andrew Friedman
Costume Designer — Amy MacDonald
Metamorphoses has completed its performances at The Hammersmith Club
