REVIEW: Metamorphoses at Berkshire Theatre Group Promises A Hopeful, Searing Performance
Through 10/26 @ Berkshire Theatre Group’s The Unicorn Stage, Stockbridge, MA
“Nourish yourself with this optimistic ode to storytelling, change and growth.”
I find it hard to believe that it has taken me 25 years to see Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses. This modern classic would be produced as often as All My Sons if it didn’t require a pool center stage.
Thankfully, Berkshire Theatre Group’s fall production is this exquisite modern adaptation of Ovid’s classic text which explores birth, creation, desire, love, lust and death through the telling of Greek myths. Ovid’s monumental poem was written in 8 AD and sought to chronicle the history of the world from its creation to the deification of Julius Caesar, weaving together hundreds of Greek and Roman myths. There are recognizable names like Midas, Orpheus and Eurydice, and Eros and Psyche but also some you may not have heard of like Alcyone and Ceyx, Erysichthon, Pomona and Vertumnus, Phaeton, Myrrha, Baucis and Philemon.
The play is like an evening of one-acts with each story dovetailing into the other and the cast of 10 constantly moving in and around the pool, taking on characters, enacting scenes or illustrating the story being told by the narrator which switches from actor to actor frequently.
The play opens in darkness with the cast huddled together in the pool, their backs to us, breathing heavily. They slowly disentangle themselves and exit out of the pool and up the stairs of the spa-like structure of a set by Jason Simms, with lighting design by Matthew E. Adelson. It is a beautiful, poetic depiction of creation and growth and prepares you for the ravishing images to come.
Two of my favorites were Evelyn Chen’s depiction of Hunger which has her long black hair hanging lankily in front of her face as she moves crablike through the pool, rolling her shoulders and agitating from her center. It was no surprise to see she was the Movement Captain on the show. She did an excellent job all around.
Another frightening image was Cinyras (David Adkins) ripping off his blindfold and attempting to drown his lover Myrrha (Fedra Ramirez-Olivares) because he saw that she was his daughter. The whole production is beautiful but those two images in particular are seared into my memory.
The superb cast played multiple roles, taking on narrative and filling the stage with stunning imagery all while getting soaking wet and frequently towelling down the deck (even that looked artistic!) The cast also includes four time Tony nominee Gregg Edelman who played a fierce Midas and his Apollo had a glittering motorcycle helmet. Amanda Roberge did the fabulous costumes. Director Isadora Wolfe has worked with Punchdrunk on their production of Sleep No More and is on faculty at The Julliard School. She has done a masterful job on this show and in her Director’s notes, she compares our current times to the months after 9/11 when the original Broadway production was in rehearsals.
“There is a profound hope in knowing that change is certain. We will transform, whether quickly or slowly, but transformation will come. And we are not helpless. The answer that Zimmerman offers us is simple. It is through love.”
Metamorphoses is an essential cultural event on the Fall calendar. Nourish yourself with this optimistic ode to storytelling, change and growth.
Metamorphoses plays through 10/26 at Berkshire Theatre Group’s The Unicorn Stage. Tickets: www.BerkshireTheatreGroup.org
