When I walked into the always-familiar black box theatre on Saturday Oct. 27, I didn’t recognize it. The audience seats had been reoriented to be centered by the side-wall rather than the entrances, and the seats had been elevated 5 ½ feet above a rectangular pool of water in the center. It was as though the black box had been transformed as a symbol of this year’s fall play, “Metamorphoses.â€The eleven scenes were based on the Latin narrative by the Roman poet Ovid. Through both comedic and dramatic plots, they explored themes like creation, chaos, desire, power, love, art and speech, all of which linked together in a final scene that invoked my tears.
Dressed in simple and neutral colored costumes, a small but talented cast of juniors and seniors performed in the pool and around its perimeter, involving the audience with an occasional splash.
I was captivated as each actor explored a variety of characters and conveyed complex emotions not habitually experienced by teenagers.
Students, teachers and parents enjoyed recognizing familiar melodies, like the James Bond theme song, which were cleverly matched to the scenes. Many were also pleased to recognize some mythological tales from past studies. My friend beside me whispered
All audience members emerged from the transformed black box impressed with the performance, so much an extra show was opened on Sunday night to welcome those who had been debased for missing it.
