The moment you walk into Zach Scott’s Whisenhunt Stage to see Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses, you know you’re in for something very different. The audience is seated around a large pool in the center of the stage, with four platforms projecting out of it at its four cardinal points, setting the stage for an epic journey into the whimsical world of Greek and Roman myth, but these are the same stories you studied in high school. Midas is now a Southern oil tycoon, Pandora ’s Box is actually a computer, and a therapist is provided to help demigods. This modernization makes these fables far more relatable to our modern lives, and makes the high emotions of many of the characters feel that much closer ot home. When you add in the unique environment, a fantastic cast, and some of the best production design this year, you’ll see why this is a perfect end to a stellar Zach season.
When watching Metamorphoses, you'll soon see that's it 's unlike anything else you've seen this year. The action happens not only in and around the pool, but also above it, with characters flowing in and out of the action from rings and ribbons which drop from the ceiling, resulting in some mesmerizing acrobatics and trapeze artistry. The characters don’t just tread the boards, but instead glide in and out in ritualistic moments, actors moving with grace and astonishing timing. Actions as simple as sweeping the water into the pool are transformed into transfixing rituals as each movements becomes a complicated dance, each member moving their bodies in perfect time.
Zach Scott’s production of Metamorphoses requires a lot of talent, featuring over a dozen different actors playing dozens of roles, ranging from nymphs, to gods, to everyday people, and director Dave Steakley and the folks at Zach bring in some of the best names in town to fill in these roles. Smaranda Ciceu, who seems to be popping up in a number of Greek plays around town, including UT’s re: Psyche and The Trojan Women, raises her game for this performance, playing a diverse group of women (and creatures) over the course of the night. When she lumbers on to stage as the lovelorn Alcyone, her face drawn, her eyes shining with tears, she embodies the pain of lost love, offering a palpable sorrow, while in her role as Pomona, the much-sought-after wood nymph, she frolics, carefree and wild, the whimsicality of a child and a wide, breath-taking smile streaming across her face. She even gets to explore her more stern, vengeful side as the angered goddess Ceres, passing down retribution on the man who felled her sacred tree. Sarah Gay also shows off some pleasant diversity, transforming from bikini-clad Cali girl one moment to stunning goddess of love Aphrodite the next, and is always a pleasure to watch. She even gets to utilize her beautiful voice during the final scene, helping to set the hypnotic tone of the last part of the play.
Aaron Alexander may not get to play quite the variety of characters as some of the other actors, but he plays each role with boldness and strength. We first meet him as the silent figure of Zeus, sitting on a hanging ring in the corner, cigarette hanging from his mouth, watching over the action on stage with a stern eye, and even then you feel his raw intensity burning through you. He brings this same sternness to his performance as Ceyx, lover of Ciceu’s Alcyone, imbued with the courage to take on the sea itself, angering Andy Agne as Poseidon. Alexander also creates one of the steamiest scenes to hit Austin stages this year, in his seductive scene with the beautiful Rachel Wiese, a charged scene that is able to leave the audience gasping, while never venturing too far into pornographic territory.
Zach Scott's production of Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses is pure spectacle, from beginning to end. With brilliant performances across the board, startling lighting design by Jason Amato, amazing costumes by Blair Hurry, and Michelle Whiteside's brilliant choreography, director Dave Steakley and company have created an ethereal dreamland that you simply won’t want to leave. This production acts as the perfect cap to one of Zach's best seasons in some time, and leaves us salivating for Zach’s next great offering.
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