Mary zimmerman Presentation by Brittany wilder alli baemer kara Gordon lauren wescoat and matt seidenfeld Date of original publicationawardsfacts This play was originally published in 2002 ID: 542921
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Slide1
MetamorphosesMary zimmerman
Presentation by: Brittany wilder,
alli
baemer
,
kara
Gordon,
lauren
wescoat
, and matt
seidenfeldSlide2
Date of original publication/awards/facts
This play was originally published in 2002.
Nominated for 3 tony awards (Best play and best scenic design)
2002 tony award for “best director of play”
10 joseph Jefferson awards (best production and best direction)
Began as a student production and went on to Broadway
Classical v. contemporary
Mary Zimmerman writes in traditional and imaginary form.Slide3Slide4
Metamorphoses: what is the significance?Throughout this play, a reader will understand that the recognizable theme Is “change”. Metamorphoses displays a very vivid display concerning this theme. as one is reading, these changes will occur as the play shifts around in the telling of many different, yet interconnected tales (Ovid's tales).It is also important to come to a coherent understanding that not only are there changes taking place within this play, there are also changes in characters, as some do not remain one being, but metamorphosize into a different body. Examples: midas and his golden touch, Orpheus and Eurydice, Vertumnus and Pomona, zeus and hermes
, etc. Slide5
settingOccurs at an abstract time in ancient Greecethe finished work of Metamorphoses was written in 1998. however, the play relates to the time period in which it was published, which is 2002. that time period is post 9/11. metamorphoses DEALS A LOT WITH THE CONCEPTS OF RADICAL CHANGE, DEATH AND PERHAPS LOVE V. HATE. September 11, 2001 dealt with over 3000 deaths, including hundreds of our officers and firefighters. This play reflects that period because even through many changes and occurrences of death in both metamorphoses and 9/11, everyone came to a place to help each other out through a difficult time. “Something the world has created through these horrible changes. But if you take the long view, we’ve suffered incredible disasters and transforming events, and yet story goes on. Even though we die, these stories continue to tie together.”
The significance of the setting?
The setting is extremely unrealistic, due to the many different tales that are told throughout the play. The settings transition from one to another. This
unrealistic setting tells an important story
. Mary Zimmerman brought ancient myths and made them come to life around one thing that stays constant during the play: a pool of water.Slide6Slide7
themesThe main theme is change, especially change related to love. The title itself literally means, “changes”.Each of the myths told involves a change of some sort. These changes are physical, internal or both. For example, in King midas’ story, Midas accidentally changes his daughter into gold. As a result of this physical change, he realizes that his greed has blinded him to what matters most.Also, the use of the pool in the set is symbolic of change because water is a changeable substance.Slide8
Themes continued…Greed vs. gratitude king midas and his greed for all things riches and gold vs. baucis and philemon who did not come from riches but of rags, yet fed and helped out strangers on the street who so desperately needed utility. This event showed they were grateful for what they had and offered to make the best of it.Love vs. hate Orpheus loved Eurydice with his whole heart, but could not be able to see her since her death. The love for her drove him so crazy because he loved so passionately vs. erysichthon
who found no passion in anything useless and found nothing sacred to him. His focus was solely on negativity.
Restoration vs. destruction
eros
represents love and how his blindness takes away his mistaken vision to find his soul. Psyche was the “soul” and both end up being together in the end when love finds the soul vs.
myrrha
who had an affair with her father,
cinyras
.
Cinyras
was blindfolded, but when he found out it was his daughter in love with him, it ended up in the destruction of their relationship.Slide9
Central conflictThere isn’t one central conflict for the entire play. Instead, each scene tells a myth that has its own independent conflict, protagonist and antagonist. Slide10
summaryA scientist, zeus, and the woman by the water explain how the universe was created.Three laundresses tell the story of king midas and of Alcyone and ceyx.Story of erysichthon and ceres.Story of Orpheus and Eurydice (told from two different perspectives).Narcissus interlude (not a full story, just a transistion scene).Story of Pomona and Vertumnus (and story within story about
myrrha
and cinyra).Phaeton story (told to Vertumnus).
Story of
eros
and psyche.
Story of
baucis
and
philemon
.
Final image: midas returns to stage and reunites with his daughter, who is no longer made of gold.
the play has no clear beginning, middle and end because all of the stories are separate from each other.Slide11
Inciting incidentThere does not seem to be a clear climax because of the many transitions taking place within this play. However, There does seem to be an inciting incident in the beginning with the story of King midas. His character is simple to determine but he does have some complexity to him. In the event that he accidentally turned his daughter into gold, We find many themes that correlate to the kind of character king midas is. We find greed, love and destruction in the dialogue of king midas. He immediately is distraught of his golden daughter and sets out to fix his mistake. This sets the tone for the tales that are told ahead. Slide12
charactersMyrrha: daughter of king cinyras who was seized by Aphrodite and fell in love with her fatherMidas: a greedy king for more goldHermes: the son of zeus who disguises himself as a beggar with zeusPhaeton: the son of Apollo, who convinces Apollo to let him have control of the sun, after years of isolation, but burns the earth.Aphrodite: the goddess of beauty and love who saves ceyx when his ship is sinking by sending irisErysichthon: a man who scorned the gods, and was consequently cursed with perpetual hunger, which drives him to near insanity, sells his mother, eats himselfSlide13
Characters continued…Alcyone: ceyx’s wife, waits for him to return and is turned into a seabird when his body is returned to herKing ceyx: a captain of a sea vessel, but dies at sea; his body is carried to shore by hermes and turns into a living seabird.Orpheus: travels to the Underworld to save his wife under the condition that he doesn’t look at her; after he does, he is haunted with the memory of losing her.Eurydice: dies after stepping on a snake and spends eternity in the underworld after Orpheus breaks his promise and will never remember her husband’s face.Therapist: a psychologist who analyzes phaeton’s storyApollo: god of music, the sun and light; he gave in to letting his son drive his chariot.Slide14
Characters continued…Baucis: god of wine and partying and grants midas the “golden touch”Philemon: a poor man who offers his home to zeus and hermes, and rewarded by dying the same time as his spouse so one wouldn’t have to live without the otherceres: roman goddess of harvest and sends oread to find Hunger to punish erysichthon for cutting down her treePsyche: the opposite of eros
, questions love’s reason and eventually receives love (goddess of pure beauty)
Eros: god of love and lust, showed as blind, naked and winged, falls in love with psycheSlide15
quotes“Let me not outlive my own capacity to love. Let me die still loving, and so, never die.” This quote is said shortly after baucis and philemon die together, and is said by the entire company, the last line of the play. Even though it was used in philemon and baucis’ story, it still has quite a significant importance to the play, as it is a reoccurring theme in most of the stories, even if it ended with a happy ending, or the character’s own destruction.Slide16
Quotes continued…“but nothing in this world is safe.”Although this quote is only spoken in one scene, it represents one of the most important themes in this play; how each and every character is vulnerable to their own destruction being a result of the consequences of human nature.Slide17
Unusual words/referencesfulfillment: satisfaction or happiness as a result of fully developed one’s abilities or characterUnadorned: plain or undecoratedExordium: the beginning or introductory partlatent: existing but not yet developed or manifest hiddenAmbiguous: open to more than one interpretation Grandiose: impressive or magnificent in appearanceSlide18
Personal reactionsBrittany: I loved reading this play because there were different stories and they all kind of pieced together. I liked the characters’ differentiation and uniquiness from each other. And the setting of the play is really nice because the stories are built around that constant pool. It forces an audience to use their imagination of how it could be portrayed in each of the different tales. One second, it can just be a pool of water or an open sea. It really depends on which story that is being told. I was kind of dreading continuing reading the play just because the style of writing wasn’t what I was used to and I couldn’t understand it until I just allowed myself to sit and invest in it. I read it twice and I understood it the second time more than the first. I wish some sentence structure wasn’t so confusing, though. Loved. Recommend it. If I loved it, you should too! 10/10 thumbs up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Slide19
Lauren: the play was actually super confusing and there were a lot of words that just didn’t help with that confusion. But I enjoyed reading from it even though it was kind of wacky to read. I like the many different tales that are told because they all tell a short story with a strong lesson and the themes in this play really stand out. Good play! Good play!!!!Slide20
Matt: i grew to really enjoy the play. I especially appreciated the modernization of the classic Greek myths aided in the audience’s understanding but didn’t tone down or “Disney-fy” any part of the stories. It was the rawness of the characters and their emotions shown that intrigued me and showed the audience the wonderful beauty and horrifying grotesqueness that together make up human nature!!Slide21
Kara: it was a really confusing play to read. At first, I had no idea what the central meaning to it was. There were a bunch of different stories and even a story within a story. I thought it seemed a bit unorganized but when I got to reading it and analyzing the meaning of these characters, I came to realize the play isn’t so bad. I didn’t love it but I don’t hate it!!!Slide22
Alli: at first, I thought the play was a little difficult to understand since there were so many stories going on, but enjoyed it a little more as the concept of the play became more clear. I really appreciated all of the great messages and morals inside the lines and the style of the writing, which definitely gives a director and crew limitless creativity in production of this play. Slide23
bibliographyhttp://www.zachtheatre.org/sites/default/files/Metamorphoses-Audience-Guide.pdfhttp://www.history.com/topics/9-11-attackshttps://www.google.com/search?q=metamorphoses+quotes&safe=active&biw=1800&bih=911&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwjs1cOKl4zPAhXFKB4KHfqiDX0Q_AUIBigB&dpr=0.75#safe=active&tbm=isch&q=emoji+with+finger+on+chin