The gods and goddesses of Metamorphoses have descended upon Shalhevet. Running Dec. 16 through Dec. 23, the show was perhaps an unusual choice for a high school production; it has no real story line but is rather a series of sketches taken from Ovid’s epic poem of the same title. The abstract nature of the disconnected scenes would seem better suited for experimental theatre.
Yet overall, Metamorphoses delivered over an hour of enjoyable entertainment. A play about gods and goddesses would not be complete without moody weather scenes or mystical experiences, and the Shalhevet production did not disappoint. The middle of the stage was the visual focus, with a specially constructed “wading pool”, whose purpose you might say was fluid — designed by professional set designer Jeff G Rack and sometimes flowing with mist from dry ice, it was used for everything a place to wash clothes to a meteorological backdrop for Poseidon’s wrath, with flashing lights representing a raging storm at sea.
Each cast member played a different role in every scene, and we didn’t see any one of them long enough to get a strong impression. Yet each showed great versatility representing varied Greek gods in addition to mere mortals. Senior Jenny Newman played everything from Midas to a modern day psychologist; sophomore Naomi Abehsera’s portrayal of Hunger was marvelously memorable as she managed to show the obsessive way hunger intrudes on junior Ashley Mashian’s vividly tortured Erysichthon. In general the ensemble offered performances that were at turns emotional, humorous, and serene.
Junior Talia Rotenberg sprained her knee during rehearsal and was in a leg brace from the knee down, but this was hardly apparent in her dignified and focused performance as a narrator, a priestess and a poor old man, among other roles. The blocking was changed so each time Talia walked, there was another actor subtly there for her to lean on.
Freshman Eric Lunzer was the only male actor in the performance. Though most of the male roles were played by female actors, Eric handled quite a few himself. He quickly changed from playing Zeus to a drunken man, to Ceyx, to a rower, to Vertumnus, to Eros to a narrator. In fact, Eric played so many roles that stage manager Scott Silver was assigned to help him with costume changes.
Rounding out the cast were junior Leona Fallas, whose luminous narration tied the play’s emotional strands together at the end; newcomer Leah Katz as a sultry Dionysus with grapes hanging in her hair; junior Deanna Grunfeld who as Alcyone turned into a bird after her husband had been killed at sea; freshman Eliya Cogan as a playful Pomona, and Eden Braunstein, who opened the play washing clothes in the would-be pool. All played other roles as well.
Unfortunately, the constant changing from one story to the next was at the expense of the in-depth character development we have come to expect from the first-semester play. Because drama produces a series of short, student-written plays in the spring, the decision to produce a compilation of short stories in fall was surprising.
Yet the Shalhevet production of Mary Zimmerman’s adaptation Metamorphoses was truly an achievement in versatility, set design and technical know-how. During its weeklong run at Shalhevet, Metamorphoses offered parents and students a chance to enjoy the hard work of a gifted team of actors in our intimate theatre. As usual, professional designer Leigh Allen designed the lighting, which was run by junior Maddy Merritt. Their talents along with those of the rest of the tech crew — Rachel Lesel, Scott Rad, Scotty Silver, Gabi Golan and Paul Merritt, rall contributed to the professional demeanor of the production.
Jaclyn Kellner, Deputy Editor, contributed to this story.
