Metamorphoses: Drowning in symbolism
A play set in and around water is bound to make something of a splash. But, apart from providing a handy opening sentence, just what is the purpose of setting most of the action in and around water?
Supposedly, the aim is to demonstrate the transformative nature and power of water, underlined by the opening sequence and the initial reference to creation and the development of order from chaos. But, the symbolism creaks a bit.
Playwright (and original director) Mary Zimmerman based Metamorphoses on David Slavitt’s translation of Ovid’s narrative poem relating a number of Roman myths. Ovid’s work, written in 8 A.D.— the same year that the Roman Emperor Augustus banished him for the immorality of his writings — is sometimes called a mock epic. …