By Ashley McKell
Students at BYU will combine with earth, wind, water and fire as they recreate the stage play, 'Metamorphoses.'
The show began Wednesday and will run through Feb. 17. All performances begin at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 or $6 for weeknights and $7 on weekends with BYU or student ID. There will not be any performances on Sunday or Monday.
Based on a David R. Slavitt''s interpretation of Ovid''s 'Metamorphosis,' this Tony-Award winning stage play written by Mary Zimmerman includes a cast of eight students who each take on multiple roles during the show.
With such a small cast, these students have the opportunity to become not only members of the same show but also good friends as they translate messages of good vs. evil to viewers.
'We are all able to learn and grow from each other. The show is more modernized so that the audience can relate to the values portrayed,' said Erika Riggs, a freshman studying English education from Highland Village, Texas, and actress in the show.
'There are many different themes that can be taken from the show,' said Carter Thompson, a freshman from Stansbury Park, studying theater art studies and actor in the play. 'Some themes are, love, accepting others, working together and making changes in your life to find what is most important.'
The cast will perform the show 45 times as they travel around to different elementary schools throughout Utah.
'It is a great learning experience for the children that watch the show,' said Janice Jenson, a senior studying theater and media arts from Riverside, Calif.
Because the cast travels around so often, it was imperative that the set was light and mobile. There are three large fans that each have an aspect of the four elements painted on them that are used as set props. Almost a year ago, Melissa Webb put together a set design that would work for this particular type of performance.
'The show is like something you have never seen anywhere else,' said Webb, a senior from Santa Barbara, Calif., studying theater studies 'They take a modernized play of Greek mythology and mix it with an elementary audience to make something great.' Webb also said even though the play is geared toward children, audiences of all ages can learn from the morals portrayed by the cast.
'This show has just as much energy and excitement as any other show I have worked on, if not more,' Webb said.
What: 'Metamorphoses' stage play When: Through Feb. 17 at 7:30 p.m. Where: Nelke Theatre in the Harris Fine Art Center Admission: Ticket prices range from $6-10 |