Metamorphoses
By Mary Zimmerman
Based on the Myths of Ovid
![Meta_Front_Final[1].JPG](http://www.athenatheatre.com/mt/archives/Meta_Front_Final[1].JPG)
Thursday, July 10th through Saturday, August 9th
Thurs-Sat at 8PM; Sun at 2pm
The Historic Lankershim Arts Center
5108 Lankershim Blvd. North Hollywood, CA 91601
“Technically, of course, water is not the element in which we humans usually move. Ms. Zimmerman makes you see it as our truest natural environment: the place in which dreams and reality, the primal and the particular melt and merge, devastate and console.” – Ben Brantley, New York Times
August 1, 2008…Los Angeles…The award-winning, critically acclaimed Athena Theatre is entering its fifth season, proud to present their first production for the 2008 season, Mary Zimmerman’s astounding theatrical experience Metamorphoses, based on the Greek myths of Ovid.
Metamorphoses opened in New York in 2001 and in Los Angeles at the Mark Taper Forum in 2002. What is extraordinary about the play is that its scenes are played in and around a swimming pool. This is not only an innovative concept for theatre – one that definitely attracts an older and younger audience alike, but artistically adds unforgettable touches of beauty for all that see it.
The stories in Metamorphoses are the most exciting and astonishing ever written. They are full of comedy, tragedy, pathos, laughter, tears, passion, violence, grief, regret and redemption. Six male and six female actors portray such characters as Midas, Eros, Bacchus, Zeus, Aphrodite, Ceres and Psyche. To quote the Wall Street Journal, “Funny one moment, achingly sorrowful the next, Metamorphoses somehow manages to both lift you out of the moment you’re living in and speak to it with piercing directness.”
Playwright: Mary Zimmerman
Director: Patrick Varon
Movement Director: Adria Dawn
Production Stage Manager: Kevin Jordan
Assistant Stage Manager: Monica Greene
Set Design: Stefan Depner
Lighting Design: Johnny Ryman
Costume Design: Kaori Mita
Projection Design: Eric Silva
Sound Design: David B. Marling
Composer: Andrew Edwards
Properties Design: Elspeth Weingarten
Publicity: Don Grigware
Postcard Design: Jeremy Asher
Starring
Brett Aune as Vertumnus and others
Sally Conway as Alcyone and others
Robin Daléa as Nursemaid and others
Sara Beth Lane as Aphrodite and others
West Liang as Orpheus and others
John A. Lorenz as Phaeton and others
Billy Mayo as Erysichthon and others
Veronique Ory as Eurydice and others
Guy Perry as Hunger and others
Gugun Deep Singh as Midas and others
Tania Verafield as Myrrha and others
General Admission $20 presale on-line
Or $25 cash only at the door
Ovation Award Eligible LAStageAlliance.com
Reservations: 818-754-1423
Wheelchair accessible, plenty of street parking
Please note: Eros, God of Love, is nude for a few minutes ... "to make us transparent." It is in the Mary Zimmerman text which we are following.
Note from our Director:
So here we are... METAMORPHOSES by Mary Zimmerman... such a bold and brave choice of material for the Athena Theatre Company! After all, our namesake is drawn from the goddess of heroic endeavor. Indeed what a storied and heroic endeavor this show has been for us...
Before we began our epic journey into the unknown, we understood this show had special challenges that would demand high amounts of interpretation, creative energy and stagecraft to render. With the blessings of Athena herself, we started on our humbling task of realizing one of the most poetic plays ever written.
Our understanding of the material would be different from the start....
An intelligent and honest understanding of Ovid, Slavitt and Zimmerman would serve as the basis for a more personal and authentic production. An ethnically diverse cast would also best service the text by demonstrating the universal struggles of love, loss and the inevitability of change. Although these myths are classic in their origin, they remain universal in their meaning and appeal.
As we proceeded, we understood the complications of maintaining a large body of water on stage. After an exhaustive search for space, we decided to bring this play here to the historic Lankershim Arts Center. The LAC was perfect for all the right reasons; location, audiences, staffing, etc. Besides, it was a former Department of Water and Power Building! Where else would a play with water be staged? Only late into the rehearsal was an assessment of the building made. Math won. Water weighs 8.337lbs per gallon. Multiplied by the 3,000 gallons we suggested, we about to place over 25,000lbs of water stress above the art gallery. It was simply was not a risk LAC was unwilling to take. Stage magic and the willing suspension of disbelief would be our answer. Perhaps we don't have the water, but we do have the power. The power to suggest. The power to imagine. The power to create and the power to dream....
Come dream with us for a while won't you?
ab imo pectore...
P.Varon (July 2008)
Critics’ Praise Unanimous
“ …striking movement design by Adria Dawn, performed with uniform grace by the cast” RECOMMENDED - Steven Stanley, StageSceneLA
“…a presentation…always riveting and compelling…Beautiful” - Jose Ruiz, reviewplays.com
“ A heady and surreal experience…an eerie and captivating play…Under the hypnotically focused direction of Patrick Varon, an artistically dedicated cast of 11 actors all fare well! - Pat Taylor, The Tolucan Times
“Cast highlights are Guy Perry with his hysterical frolicking as ‘Hunger’, impressively talented West Liang (Orpheus), and Sally Conway as Alcyone, whose body movements are top notch. - Paul Storiale, stagehappenings.com
“Metamorphoses” at the Lankershim Arts Center
By Don Grigware on June 25, 2008
Always challenging herself artistically, Veronique Ory, actress and artistic director of the Athena Theatre Company, is heroically treading new waters as she prepares to open the uniquely brilliant “Metamorphoses” at the Lankershim Arts Center for a five- week run commencing July 10.
Adapted by Mary Zimmerman from the Greek myths of Ovid, “Metamorphoses” had a successful production in New York and at the Mark Taper Forum after 2001. As if producing this play is not demanding enough, Ory will also act in it, as she always does in Athena Theatre’s productions, but she is approaching “Metamorphoses,” due to its nature and scope, with far more open-mindedness and sensitivity than in her previous work with the company.
“I was so taken with the storytelling, all the characters and exploring a different way to present theatre,” says Ory, “that it wasn’t until months of pre-production work when director Patrick Varon and I began to discuss what roles I relate to and that challenge me the most. Everyone in the eleven- member cast plays multiple roles. I play Eurydice and Baucis. I was drawn to them because they show the full circle of love beginning and love never ending.”
The Athena Theatre has won critical and audience praise over the last five years for outstanding presentations of “Crimes of the Heart,” “How I Learned to Drive” and “Pterodactyls,” the latter also directed by Varon. Much of this acclaim is due to Ory, whose tenacity and hard work have helped to build a family of talented and dedicated artists, who, she claims “become an invaluable part of our lives.”
“Metamorphoses” plays Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. at the Lankershim Arts Center, 5108 Lankershim Blvd. in North Hollywood from July 10 through August 9. Tickets are $25 cash only at the door; $20 pre-pay are available at www.AthenaTheatre.com or by phoning 818-754-1423.
Reviewplays
Reviewed by Jose Ruiz
“Over the years that we have covered the presentations of the Athena Theatre Company, the one thing we have mentioned in almost every review has been the willingness of the company to venture into areas that are usually reserved for the intrepid who are not afraid to explore no matter what the results. We’ve seen it with shows like Crimes of the Heart, Waiting for Godot, Pterodactyls and now with Metamorphoses where one the city’s most courageous ensembles steps back in time two thousand years and makes the stories of Ovid as real and up-to-date as anything you see today.
Award winning playwright Mary Zimmerman’s adaptation brings together some of Ovid’s mythical characters around a symbolic pool, where at various times narrators tell stories of the gods as they frolic, laugh, love and even sometimes die. The amazing set construction coupled with music, sound effects and visuals create an idyllic setting where a committed ensemble takes us into the realms of Zeus, Midas, Eurydice, Alcyone and others presenting us with those segments of their myths that have endured centuries…the best judge is the public who attends, and we heard many patrons describe their reactions with one common word as they exited – ‘Beautiful’.”
Stage Scene LA
Reviewed by Steven Stanley
“Athena Theatre has undertaken its biggest challenge yet in staging an Equity waiver production of Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses.
As proven by Athena’s most recent production (Nicky Silver’s Pterodactyls), Co-Founder and Producer Veronique Ory knows how to surround herself with some of the finest design talent around. Metamorphoses features an inventive set by Stefan Depner, some beautiful lighting effects by Johnny Ryman, imaginative costumes by Kaori Mita, and an effective sound design by David Marling. Especially significant among the design elements are an exquisite original musical score by Andrew Edwards and a striking projection design by Eric Silva… Most striking in this production is the movement design by Adria Dawn, performed with uniform grace by the cast. In one particularly haunting sequence, Mayo as Erysichthon is overcome (literally) by Perry as hunger, clinging to Mayo’s back as the King is unable to feed his insatiable appetite.”
