Play's awash in visual effects

By Joseph T. Rozmiarek
Advertiser Drama Critic

Zimmerman's version, which attracted much attention in its 2002 New York production, calls for action in and around a large, shallow body of water. Designer Donald J. Ranney Jr. converts the large LCC stage into a double-tiered wading pool in which the actors paddle and splash — with a neatly concealed dive space into which they can completely disappear.

It's an effective gimmick that emphasizes the physicality of the production and leads to memorable visual effects. One of the best features John Rita as young King Ceyx setting sail on the ocean, standing balanced on two long bamboo poles shouldered by his sailors. The resulting ocean storm and drowning of the entire crew is a frantic water battle that leaves everyone soaked and lifelessly floating.

But more than just a gimmick, the water becomes a storytelling medium for a series of episodes that emphasize the inevitability of change inherent in the title.

The first sequence is probably the most familiar, tracing the plight of greedy King Midas (Spencer Moon) when everything he touches — including his beloved daughter — turns to gold. To break the spell, he must wash his hands in the source of the Great River — a task that carries him to the show's finale and bookends the intervening stories and brings them to a dramatic conclusion.

In the interim, Erysichthon (Ricky Galius) repeatedly sells his daughter into slavery to satisfy his insatiable hunger. Poseidon rescues her by changing her form until Erysichthon ultimately consumes himself. Orpheus (Michael Angelo) follows his beloved Eurydice (Courtney New) into the underworld, but loses her forever when he disobeys command by looking back at her.

Other myths are told effectively in pantomime. Psyche (Laynee Busse) almost loses her mate Eros (Angelo), but we mostly remember her lighted candelabra and his large feathered wings. Narcissus (Bryahn Godson) is transfixed at the sight of his own watery image and is carried off — frozen in life — by disgruntled stagehands.

Costumes and staging make the action attractive and sometimes sexy, but it's the dialogue that makes it contemporary and fun. Zimmerman updates the poetry to have Phaeton (Ryan Sutherlan) demand "the keys to the car" when insisting to drive the sun across the sky. Midas' wish for the golden touch is initially put off as a "really, really bad idea." Psyche's name translates to "The Soul," and her fate: "She is going to suffer."

Mythology in translation is never easy, but "Metamorphoses" makes it attractive and accessible.