A List
10/25/04

SLU PRODUCTION OF 'METAMORPHOSES' NOV. 2-6

CANTON – Mary Zimmerman's award-winning play Metamorphoses will be presented at 
St. Lawrence University from Tuesday, November 2, through Saturday, November 6, at 
8 p.m. in the Edson R. Miles Black Box Theatre, Griffiths Arts Center. 
      Admission is free, and tickets are available at the box office, located outside 
Gulick Theatre; it is open weekdays from Thursday, October 28, through Friday, November 
5, from 1 to 5 p.m. Due to limited seated, patrons are urged to secure tickets in 
advance.
      In Metamorphoses, Zimmerman adapts for the stage 10 classical myths from the Roman 
author Ovid, sometimes playfully updating them for contemporary audiences, sometimes 
remaining faithful to the original. All of the myths are staged in and around a large 
pool of water. 
      For the St. Lawrence production of Metamorphoses, a regional premiere, scenic 
designer John Larrance has constructed a 15-by-25-foot pool of water ranging in depth 
from a couple of inches to almost three feet. According to director Kirk W. Fuoss, associate 
professor of speech and theatre, "The headaches associated with building a pool on 
stage and setting much of the action of the play in the water are huge, but so too are 
the payoffs. Metamorphoses is about change, and nothing is more malleable than water. 
It is steam and clouds, ice and fog, snow and rain. It moves and stands, purifies and 
destroys, cleanses and kills. Water is essential to human life, just as change is 
essential." 
      The University's production features 14 performers who collectively assume over 
50 roles. While several of the myths featured in the production are familiar ones, 
such as the stories of Midas and Pandora, others are less well known. However, according 
to Fuoss, "One does not need to be familiar with Greek and Roman mythology in order 
to enjoy the show."
      Zimmerman's Metamorphoses made quite a splash when it premiered in New York City 
in 2002, and critics have consistently lavished the play with high praise and numerous 
nominations and awards. That year, Metamorphoses was nominated in the Best Play 
category for both a Tony Award and an Outer Critics Circle Award, and it was the winner 
in that category of a Drama Desk Award, Drama League Award and Lucille Lortel Award. 
A Time magazine reviewer wrote of the play, "Everybody gets into the pool at one point 
or another in Mary Zimmerman's entertaining theatre piece Metamorphoses, but somehow 
it's the audience that feels the most refreshed."  
      Because a few of the myths deal with adult themes, the production carries a 
"mature audience" warning. In addition, because of the climate-control needs 
associated with having performers in a pool, audience members are advised to wear 
cooler clothing under their early November outerwear.

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