BWW Reviews: Storytelling at Its Finest in Out Loud Theatre's METAMORPHOSES

The only thing that is permanent is change. Change is inevitable. It's going to happen, and stories of how things and people change have been told for centuries. Mary Zimmerman's Metamorphoses, presented by Out Loud Theatre at Artists' Exchange in Cranston, is a collection of ancient myths, all of which somehow involve a change or altering. What hasn't changed is how powerful and important these stories of change are. It's a true testament to the power of myth that these stories still hold up in our modern age. They are just as relevant and relatable today as when they were written by Ovid, a Latin poet who is believed to have completed his collection of poems around 8 A.D.

Zimmerman has taken those ancient poems, all powerful stories, and told them in an interconnected, non-linear way, performed by a group of nameless performers. These performers, a traveling troupe of actors and musicians, perhaps, have arrived to act out the myths, the poetry, to give life to the stories. Some of the myths, like that of Midas, who turns everything to solid gold with just a touch, are familiar. Others, such as the story of Myrrha, who is cursed with a lust for her father, may be less familiar. All of them, though, are well-told and powerful, clearly stories that have stood the test of time.

Director Kira Hawkridge also clearly knows how to tell a story in the context of a theatrical performance. She keeps everything perfectly simple and minimalistic. There are some props, a ladder, a few benches, some chains, a trash bucket and some sticks, for example, but there is no need for technical wizardry or spectacle. She relies on her ensemble of actors and their impressive set of storytelling tools. They speak, sing, play instruments and use the movement of their bodies to indicate places and events. Under Hawkridge's direction, they do all of that fluidly, with enthusiastic energy, and with just a very minor forgivable hiccup here and there. For the vast majority of their time in our company, they are a perfect storytelling instrument, working together like the best of ensembles.

As for the actors who make up that ensemble, it's difficult to single any of them out because they aren't really ever identified, which may, I realize, be the point. The playbill lists "Ensemble, In Order of Appearance," but they all appear together. Like the play itself, the simplest way is the best way, to just give them all equal praise and applause for their outstanding work: Pat Hawkridge, Joshua Andrews, Sarah Leach, Alexis Ingrim, Sophie Appel, Marc Tiberiis, Marc Tiberiis II, Alex Maynard, Lauren Ustaszewski, Blanche Case, Rico Lani, Aubrey Dion and Alan Hawkridge. There really is not a weak link in the bunch and they all get more than a few moments to shine, which they all do.

In the context of this play, and this ensemble, it also works just fine that they are never identified in any way, never given a name, for example. They could be any troupe of actors, performing at any time, in any place, which adds to the universality and timelessness of these mythical stories. At the same time, this ensemble still crafts wonderful relationships and moments between each other. They may be a group of unknown performers to the audience, but they know each other, they have performed these myths before, and will do so again. There is a great moment after the telling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, where the two performers who have just acted out those roles share a touch and a look. Very subtle and quick, but very powerful. Moments like that prove that Hawkridge and her talented ensemble have not left out the small details. They have paid attention to the big questions and overarching themes but they have also honored the little moments, which are no less important.

There was one moment, though, that didn't work, and it makes one wonder if it's written into the script or not. After the group of performers leaves the stage for the last time, finished with the telling of their stories, the actors never come back to take a bow. While it's understandable that there's a point or message there, it's mostly awkward and doesn't make sense. In the most pure sense, the bows are an audience's chance, through applause, to say, "Thank you for telling us these stories," while the actors, through their bows, respond, "Thank you for being here to listen and for letting us tell these stories to you." This play is the perfect time for that to happen, for the actors to connect with the people they just told the stories to, in a very direct and immersive way. Instead, the actors never come back, which seems disrespectful and dismissive of the audience.

Speaking of the audience, it's a minor nitpick, but having them in full light the whole time doesn't really work well. It is mostly distracting, as audience members don't really want to have to turn around in their seats or stare at the person sitting behind or next to them. The black box at Artists' Exchange isn't really the right space for that kind of audience immersion, which works best when in-the-round or when there's audience actually sitting onstage. One final minor thing, the stark, garish white wall upstage of the performers also didn't work. A light blue might have been better, or maybe a light green, something earthy and calming, something less distracting,

Other technical elements, though, are all finely crafted. The costume design by Alex Maynard is especially brilliant. Maynard gives the actors clothes which would be, again, from any time or place. Even better, they are multi-layered and multi-purpose. Which each new story, actors remove or rearrange their garb, becoming a new character in dress as well as personality. Pieces of clothing are also used as props, adding to the wonderful simplicity of the production. A traveling troupe of performers would want to carry as little as possible, so it makes perfect sense they would make use out of, primarily, the clothes on their back.

While the costumes helped tell the stories, maybe better than any other costumes I can recall seeing, the original music by Chris Bijan Korangy and Marc Tiberiis also plays an important role. Never intrusive, always perfectly supporting the performers and their storytelling, the music is a flawless and expertly realized element of the production. What makes so many of the facets of this production feel that way is that they do, in fact, support the storytelling. In every way, this show is about a group of perfomers telling a powerful story to an audience. It is theater at its most basic, most pure, and it is hopefully a sign of great things to come from Out Loud Theatre.

The final, sold-out performance of Metamorphoses is on October 4th. Visit Out Loud Theatre's website at www.outloudtheatre.org to find out more about their upcomign productions.

Pictured: The cast of Metamorphoses. Photo by Nile Hawver.

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