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Metamorphoses

The transformative power of myth in Mary Zimmerman’s most popular play is at the University of Houston’s Quintero Theatre

A A A Comments By Lee Williams Thursday, Nov 13 2008

When Mary Zimmerman’s play Metamorphoses opened on Broadway in 2001, it was called “the most moving, intriguing and ultimately entertaining evening of theatre in New York.” Wowzer! That’s especially high praise for a play that is essentially a retelling of several of Ovid’s myths, each with grief and transformation at its center. The Theatre Department of the University of Houston tries its hand at Metamorphosestoday.

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Characters float in and out of the play’s action, around and sometimes in the show’s main set piece, a pond of water onstage. There’s Phaëton, son of the Sun God, who spends most of his time talking to a therapist (being the son of the Sun God has its drawbacks, it seems, including the fact that the other kids don’t think Dad is actually a g-o-d.) Erysichthon gets some wicked payback for desecrating one of the sacred trees of the gods, Cupid and Psyche share a couch, and Aphrodite shows us how dangerous jealousy can be (let’s just say it’s not a good idea to seduce your own father). There’s also Midas, Aphrodite and Orpheus, each with his or her own tale of woe. 8 p.m. November 13-15 and 18-22, and 2 p.m. on November 16 and 23. The Quintero Theatre, 4800 Calhoun. For information call 713-743-3003 or visit www.uh.edu. $10 to $20.
Nov. 13-15, 8 p.m.; Sun., Nov. 16, 2 p.m.; Nov. 18-22, 8 p.m.; Sun., Nov. 23, 2 p.m., 2008

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