Review

A fresh take on Roman classic

Set designs and strong performances make the American Stage's Metamorphoses, a retelling of poet Ovid's stories, a lively moralityw lesson.

American Stage audiences have become almost inured to stunning stagecraft. Impressive set designs are the rule, not the exception.

Still, even longtime followers of the company's work had to be awestruck by what they saw when they walked into Friday's opening performance of Metamorphoses.

The stage area isn't huge, but Dan Doubleday's set is monumental. The exterior of an ancient stone building - a courtyard of a stately home, perhaps; it's never specified and it doesn't really matter - is towering and massive, but somehow seems to expand the stage rather than cramming it. The stones are so realistic that you can almost feel their weight and coldness.

The centerpiece for the set is a pool, maybe a couple of feet deep, that extends from underneath a walkway and out toward the audience.

It's the pool, the water, that most people who have seen Metamorphoses, which was a big New York hit a couple of years ago, talk about first. In a lesser play, it could seem like a gimmick, a distraction from mediocre material, like the helicopter in Miss Saigon or the falling chandelier in The Phantom of the Opera.

But there's a difference. For one thing, Mary Zimmerman's script is far from mediocre. A retelling of several fables by the Roman poet Ovid, it's fresh, clever and light, but also meaningful and poignant.

Another difference is that the water is central to nearly everything that occurs during the play. It's the setting for several near-drownings. An erotic scene is performed in, on and even under the water. Actors make entrances by appearing magically from beneath the water's surface. Most of the performers are soaking wet, head to toe, through most play.

The set almost overpowers the material. But not quite.

Zimmerman's play, as directed here by Brain Jucha, is an intriguing stylistic hodgepodge. Even within the same scene, some characters may be dressed in modified togas, others in modern dress; some may speak in haughty classical tones, and others respond in current vernacular; haughty classically-toned acting is offset by vaudevillian clowning.

It's hard to say how or why, but somehow it all works.

Jucha and the 10-person cast (all of whom play many roles) obviously deserve a lot of the credit. There's not a poor or even average performance in the show, despite its grueling physical requirements and emotional challenges.

Zimmerman's script culls from some of Ovid's most famous tales, including those of King Midas and Orpheus and Eurydice with some more obscure ones. They're all true to the originals in impact and message, but most are updated in various ways. Rilke's recounting of Orpheus and Eurydice serves as a counterpoint to Ovid; Phaeton, who longs to pilot the sun across the sky, becomes a California dude begging his dad for the keys to the universe's coolest car.

There's enough intellectualism to satisfy the most academic audience member, but enough with charm and humor to delight people who prefer mere diversion.

There's only one flaw worth mentioning, but it's a fairly major one. The sound design is horribly annoying and often far too loud. For much of the play, there's a constant underscoring that ranges from ominous synthesizer drones to a monotonous sample of a Supertramp song. It sometimes forces the audience to strain to hear the actors, ad it's always a distraction.

Metamorphoses continues through Dec. 4 at American Stage, 211 Third St. S, St. Petersburg. Tickets are $22-$32; Tickets for the Tuesday and Nov. 30 performances are on a "pay what you can" basis. Curtain is at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday, and 3 p.m. Sunday. Call 727 823-7529 or go to www.americanstage.org

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