Metamorphoses (play)  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Related e

Wikipedia
Wiktionary
Shop


Featured:

Metamorphoses is a play by American playwright Mary Zimmerman adapted from the classic Ovid poem, Metamorphoses. The play premiered in 1996 as Six Myths at Northwestern University and later the Lookingglass Theatre Company in Chicago. With the change of title, the play opened off-Broadway in October 2001 at the Second Stage Theatre, and later transferred to Broadway on 21 February 2002 at the Circle in the Square Theatre.

Contents

Contextual Information

Mary Zimmerman's Metamorphoses is based on David R. Slavitt's free-verse translation of The Metamorphoses of Ovid. An early version of the play, Six Myths, was produced in 1996 at the Northwestern University Theater and Interpretation Center. Zimmerman's finished work, Metamorphoses, was produced in 1998.
Of the many stories told in Zimmerman's Metamorphoses, only the introductory "Cosmogony" and the tale of Phaeton are from the first half of Ovid's Metamorphoses. The story of Eros and Psyche is not a part of Ovid's Metamorphoses; it is from Lucius Apuleius' novel Metamorphoses -- also called The Golden Ass -- and was included in Zimmerman's Metamorphoses because, as Zimmerman herself said in an interview with Bill Moyers of NOW, "I love it so much I just had to put it in."
Metamorphoses was written and produced during a period of renewed interest in the life and writings of Ovid. Other Ovid-related works in the same handful of decades include David Malouf's 1978 novel, An Imaginary Life; Christoph Ransmayr's Die letzte Welt, 1988 (The Last World, translated to English by John E. Woods in 1990); and Jane Alison's The Love-Artist, 2001. Additionally, Ovid's Metamorphoses were translated by A.D. Melville, Allen Mandelbaum, David R. Slavitt, David Michael Hoffman and James Lasdun, and Ted Hughes—in 1986, 1993, 1994, 1994, and 1997, respectively.

Plot synopsis

The play is staged as a series of vignettes. The order is as follows:

  • Cosmogony- Used to explain the creation of the world, as well as give the audience a sense of the style and setting of the play. Woman by the Water, Scientist, and Zeus help narrate how our world of order came from chaos, either by the hand of a creator or by a "natural order of things."
  • Midas- The story is framed by the narration of three laundresses who tell the story of King Midas, a very rich man. After shunning his daughter for being too disruptive during his speech about caring for his family, a drunken Silenus enters and speaks of a far away land capable of granting eternal life. Silenus later falls asleep, and Midas shelters him in the cabana. Bacchus later comes to retrieve Silenus, and grants Midas a wish for his graciousness towards Silenus. Midas asks for the ability to have whatever he touches turn to gold. Midas accidentally turns his daughter into gold and is prompted by Bacchus to seek a mystic pool that will restore him to normal. Midas leaves for his quest.
  • Alcyone and Ceyx- Also narrated by the three laundresses, this story depicts King Ceyx and his wife Alcyone. Despite his wife's warnings and disapproval, Ceyx voyages into the ocean to visit a far off oracle. Poseidon destroys Ceyx's ship. Ceyx is killed in the process, unbeknownst to Alcyone who awaits on the shore. Prompted by Aphrodite, Alcyone has a dream of Ceyx, who tells her to go the shore. With mercy from the gods, the two are reunited. Transformed as seabirds, they fly together toward the horizon.
  • Erysichthon and Ceres- This story tells of a godless and sacrilegious man named Erysichthon, who cuts down a tree sacred to the goddess Ceres. In an act of vengeance, Ceres commands the spirit Hunger to make him captive to an insatiable appetite. After eating endlessly and spending all his fortune on food, Erysichthon tries to sell his mother to a merchant. His mother gets transformed into a little girl after praying to the god Poseidon and escapes from the merchant. Erysichthon eventually succumbs to his endless hunger and devours himself.
  • Orpheus and Eurydice- The story of Orpheus and Eurydice is told twice. The first from the point of view of Orpheus in 8 AD, who has just married his bride Eurydice. Eurydice is bitten by a snake on their wedding day and dies. Orpheus, so distraught, travels to the Underworld so that he might work out a deal to retrieve Eurydice. After singing a mournful song, Hades is convinced to let Eurydice return with Orpheus on one condition: Eurydice must follow Orpheus from behind and he cannot look back at her, and if he should, she must stay in the Underworld forever. Orpheus agrees to the terms, and when almost back to the living world, he doubtfully looks back, causing Hermes to pluck her away. The action is repeated several times, resembling the memory that Orpheus will have forever of losing his bride. The second time is told from the point of view of Eurydice in the likeness of the Rainer Maria Rilke's style in 1908. After an eternity of this repeated action, Eurydice becomes forgetful and fragile, tragically no longer remembering Orpheus. She returns to the Underworld unknowing to Orpheus, the man she loved so long ago.
  • Narcissus Interlude- A brief scene showing the character Narcissus catching a glimpse of his own reflection in a pool. He becomes transfixed and becomes paralyzed. He is replaced by a narcissus plant by his fellow castmates.
  • Pomona and Vertumnus- This story depicts a female wood nymph named Pomona and a romantically shy Vertumnus. Pomona has refused the hands of many suitors and remains alone. Vertumnus, in order to see her, disguises himself in a variety of costumes and tries to convince Pomona to fall in love with him, although he doesn't reveal his true identity. After telling the story of Myrrha, Pomona tells Vertumnus to take off his ridiculous disguise, and the two become smitten in love.
  • Myrrha- A story within the Pomona and Vertumnus story, Vertumnus tells the story of a King Cinyras and his daughter Myrrha. After denying Aphrodite's love attempts many times, Myrrha is cursed by Aphrodite with a lust for her father. Myrrha tries to control her urges, but eventually falls to the temptation. With the help of her Nursemaid, Myrrha has three sexual encounters with her father, each time keeping him drunk and blindfolded so he wouldn't suspect her. The third time Cinyras takes off his blindfold and tries to strangle Myrrha, who escapes and is never seen again. Rumors are mentioned of what happened to her, but she is depicted as melting into the pool.
  • Phaeton- This story is told about Phaeton in the form of Phaeton narrating his relationship with his Father, Apollo, to the Therapist. With the Therapist adding his psychoanalytical points, Phaeton tells the audience of a distanced relationship with his father. After bullying from school, Phaeton goes on a journey to meet his father, who drives the sun across the sky every day. Racked with guilt from fatherly neglect, Apollo allows Phaeton to "drive" the sun across the sky as compensation for all the years of absence. Phaeton, who constantly whines, drives the sun too close to the earth and scorches it. The Therapist closes the scene in a monologue about the difference between myth and dream.
  • Eros and Psyche- "Q" and "A" essentially narrate a scene about Psyche falling in love with Eros. Psyche and Eros remain silent during the whole interlude, but act out what Q and A discuss. Eros and Psyche fall in love, as Q and A tell the audience that they might wander in the darkness of loneliness until they blind themselves to personal romantic desires and give into a deeper love.
  • Baucis and Philemon- The final story tells of Zeus and Hermes disguising themselves as beggars on earth in order to know what its like to be human. After being shunned by every house in the city, they are graciously accepted into the house of the poor married couple, Baucis and Philemon. The married couple feeds the gods with a great feast, not knowing the true identity of the strangers except that they are "children of God".. After the feast, the gods reveal themselves and grant the two a wish. Baucis and Philemon ask to die at the same time to save each other grief of death, and the gods respond by turning their house into a grand palace and the couple into a pair of trees with branches intertwined. At the end of the scene, Midas returns to the stage, finds the pools, washes, and is restored. His daughter enters, healed, and the play ends with a redeemed Midas embracing his daughter.

The stories as they are told in the classic Ovid tales

Characters

Plot Analysis

By definition, plot can be referred to as the deliberate selection and arrangement of the incidents and actions that are outlined by the playwright. When Metamorphoses is analyzed it is important to realize that the plot is not a conventional arrangement and must be looked at instead from a non-linear point of view.

A linear dramatic action may be set as with the following steps: 1. A state of equilibrium 2. An inciting incident 3. Point of attack of the major dramatic question 4. Rising action 5. Climax 6. Resolution 7. New state of equilibrium. These set of events are described as being of a well-made play and follow a linear set of actions. First one event, then the next and the following one after that and so on and so forth. Metamorphoses does not follow this laid out set of steps and no single analysis can make it follow this formula. However each of the separate stories embedded within the play is in itself a "well-made play" within a play. Each story can be easily followed and analyzed through a look at the seven parts already established. An example that can easily demonstrate and lay out the structure is the story of Erysichthon described within Metamorphoses.

The seven elements of this story can be seen as follows:

  • State of Equilibrium - Erysichthon has no regard for the gods and does as he wishes with no fear of punishment
  • Inciting Incident - Erysichthon tears down a tree that is beloved by the god, Ceres
  • Point of Attack of the MDQ (Major Dramatic Question) - Will Ceres avenge her beloved tree and teach a valuable lesson about the power of the gods to Erysichthon?
  • Rising Action - Ceres sends a servant to look for Hunger, Ceres' servant finds Hunger, Hunger embodies itself into Erysichthon, Erysichthon gorges on food
  • Climax - Erysichthon's hunger is so insatiable that he sells his own mother to a trader for money to buy more food
  • Resolution - Finally, Erysichthon can no longer find any more food to eat and curb his hunger so Ceres approaches him with a tray that holds a fork and a knife, Erysichthon sits down and actually destroys himself
  • New State of Equilibrium - Erysichthon is no more and people are no longer left to wonder or question the power of the gods

Each of the stories told within Metamorphoses can be analyzed in this fashion and it is even worth noting the story of King Midas. His dramatic action can be followed over the entire length of the play for we are introduced to his story in the beginning and are not subjected to the resolution of his story until the end of the play and his story is actually the last one addressed in the play.

Character Guide

Characters listed as in the script

  • Woman by the Water: The narrator for the opening scene who poetically comments on the creation of the world and man.
  • Scientist: In the opening scene, adorned in a white lab coat and holding earthly elements, explains the scientific possibility of the creation of the world
  • Zeus: The Greek God, referred in the play as, "Lord of the heavens", who represents a divine creator in the opening scene. Later, Zeus and Hermes disguise themselves as beggars and find shelter in Baucis and Philemon's home.
  • Three Laundresses: Used as a narrative device as the three, unnamed women exchange the stories of "Midas" and "Alcyone and Ceyx" as they are enacted on stage.
  • Midas and his Daughter: Midas is an exorbitantly rich king who is granted by Bacchus the ability to turn anything he touches into gold. He accidentally turns his daughter into gold in the first scene, and concludes the play by finding a sacred pool that restores himself as well as his daughter to their original, healthy states.
  • Silenus: A follower of Bacchus who shows up drunk at Midas' palace. Midas treats Silenus well, and because of his kindness is granted a wish of his choice.
  • Bacchus:Greek God of wine and partying. He grants Midas a gift for saving a follower of his, the golden touch, though he warns Midas it is a very bad idea for a heavinly gift.
  • Ceyx, a King: King, husband of Alycone, and Captain of a sea vessel. Dies at sea by Poseidon's wrath. His body is later carried ashore by Hermes, and transforms into a living seabird along with Alycone.
  • Alcyone: Ceyx's wife and daughter of Aeolus, Master of the Winds. Awaits for Ceyx's return after his departure, sees false visions of Ceyx as prompted by Morpheus, and finally is transformed into a seabird after Ceyx's body is finally returned to her.
  • Hermes: Son of Zeus. Returns Ceyx's body to Alcyone. Later accompanies Zeus to earth disguised as beggars to "see what people were really like."
  • Aphrodite: Goddess of love and beauty. Hears the prayers of Ceyx at sea when his ship is sinking. Sends Iris, the rainbow, to the cave of Sleep, who will show Alcyone a vision of Ceyx.
  • Erysichthon and his Mother: Erysichthon scorned the gods and found nothing sacred. Was cursed by Ceres with an insatiable hunger after cutting down a sacred tree. Erysichthon tries to sell his mother, who later turns back into a child by Poseidon's grace. Erysichthon eventually eats himself, though the audience doesn't see it firsthand.
  • Ceres: Roman Goddess of the Harvest. Roman equivalent to Demeter. She sends Oread to find Hunger so she can punish Erysichthon for cutting down her tree.
  • Oread: A nymph Ceres sends to find Hunger.
  • Hunger: Commanded, or rather permitted, to latch onto Erysichthon forever.
  • Orpheus: Husband of Eurydice. Travels to the Underworld to retrieve Eurydice after her death. Hades agrees to her release on the condition that Orpheus doesn't look back at her as they walk out of the Underworld; which Orpheus does. He is haunted with the memory of losing his wife forever.
  • Eurydice: Wife of Orpheus who dies after stepping on a snake. She is eventually doomed to the Underworld after Orpheus breaks his promise to Hades, and will spend as eternity not remembering the face of her husband.
  • Vertumnus, God of Springtime: An admirer of Pomona and disguises himself in various costumes in order to get close of Pomona. Tells the story of Myrrha to sway Pomona into loving him.
  • Pomona, Wood Nymph: A skilled gardener who refused to have a lover. Finally falls for Vertumnus after heeding his message and telling him to be himself.
  • Cinyras, a King: Father to Myrrha who eventually sleeps with her after being tricked by the Nursemaid while being drunk and blindfolded.
  • Myrrha: Daughter of Kind Cinyras who denied Aphrodite so many times that Myrrha was seized with a passion for her father. She eventually has three sexual encounters with her father, the third of which he discovers her identity during intercourse. She flees and her final whereabouts remain unknown.
  • Nursemaid: A servant who agrees to help Myrrha have sexual relations with her father.
  • Phaeton: Son of Apollo, who after many years of neglect, finally confronts his father, convinces Apollo to let him have control of the sun, and burns the Earth. Phaeton reveals his story to the Therapist.
  • Therapist: A psychologist who follows a Freudian example and psycho analyzes Phaeton's story.
  • Apollo: God of the sun, music, and light. Father of Phaeton. At first he was hesitant to let his son drive his chariot but eventually gave in.
  • Eros: Primordial god of love and lust. Depicted as blind, winged, and naked. Falls in love with Psyche.
  • Psyche: The opposite character of Eros. Questions love's reason and eventually receives love.
  • Q & A: Narrators of the Eros and Psyche scene. Q only asks questions and A answers them. They discuss the relationship of love and the mind.
  • Baucis: A poor woman and wife of Philemon. Together they offer their homes to Zeus and Hermes and are rewarded by being turned into trees to spare each other death.
  • Philemon: A poor man and husband of Baucis. Together they offer their homes to Zeus and Hermes and are rewarded by being turned into trees to spare each other death.
  • Various Narrators: Members of the ensemble who take turns in narrating various scenes.

Character Analysis

Because of the mythic quality of the script, sometimes the players in the performance often resemble "archetypes instead of characters." Further stated, "enacting myth does not require creating a plausible character, but rather an emblematic figure who demonstrates a particular, identifiable human trait."

The story of Orpheus and Eurydice is told twice, each to emphasize both of their individual stories and act like mirrors with reflecting stories of love and loss; the first being from Orpheus' point of view from Ovid's tale from 8 A.D., then Eurydice's tale in 1908 inspired by German poet Rainer Maria Rilke. It can be argued that Orpheus is an archetype for strong human emotion and expressing it through poetry and music. Specifically with regards to music, it compliments Orpheus' ability to only move forward in time, along with his feelings and mortal love. Although they can repeat, as they do in the scene several times, they cannot turn back completely and be the same. Zimmerman includes the line "Is this a story about how time can only move in one direction?" to bring light to Orpheus' struggle.

The Phaeton story offers the audience a look into his own consciousness as he narrates his own story (not the case with most of the other stories). With the Therapist bringing a modern glimpse of Freudian psychoanalysis, Phaeton's relationship with his father can be seen in new ways: "the father is being asked to perform an initiation rite, to introduce his son to society, [and] to inscribe him in a symbolic order."

Because Midas frames the story at the beginning and later shows up at the end as a redeemed man, the play ends with a sense of optimism due to his transformation into a more selfless man.

The character Eros, although attains many of the traits of the more popularized Cupid, is meant to symbolize more than what's typically thought of. In the play, "A", Psyche, interprets why "Q", Eros, is dressed is naked, winged, and blindfolded: he is naked to make our feelings transparent, he is winged so he might fly from person to person, and he blindfolded to encourage us to see into each others hearts. The notion of Cupid being blindfolded as making random and foolhardy choices is dismissed as Psyche states the line, "He is blind to show how he takes away our ordinary vision, our mistaken vision, that depends on the appearance of things."

Genre

Since the Metamorphoses is derived from literary texts, productions of Zimmerman's may be classified in the genre of Readers Theater. Readers Theater is meant to present a narrative text, like a poem, to an audience rather than a typical play script. Readers Theater generally follows the presentational form of theater, rather than representational, often relying on narrators to bring insight from an outside perspective to a character. The presentational aspect is thought to universalize the performance by creating a direct and intimate link between the audience and the narrator. Readers Theater also calls for less theatrical devices, such as costumes, sets, and props in order to better focus on the story and the language. Metamorphoses generally follows these methods by using multiple narrators, who both tell and comment on the story, and uses language that is strongly rooted in the David R. Slavitt translation of Ovid's mythology.

In terms of more classic genres, Metamorphoses acts as a hybrid by containing elements of various genres including comedy, classic tragedy, and drama, but not necessarily limited to any of them. Metamorphoses borrows many aspects from the theater genre of opera in the sense that it uses visual and aural illusions and achieving them in fairly simplistic ways. It has been said that Zimmerman was better able to capture the seriocomic elements of Ovid's tales than most adaptations.


Awards and nominations

Awards
Nominations




Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Metamorphoses (play)" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

Personal tools