Last weekend, Staples Players tackled some tough topics with their Black Box production of “The Laramie Project.”
This week, they stretch themselves with “Metamorphoses.”
Mary Zimmerman’s play — based on Ovid’s ancient poem — consists of 10 vignettes. Each depicts a different Greek myth, involving love or desire in some form.
It’s heady stuff for the ensemble cast of 15 actors. And they’ve figured it all out on their own. The entire show is student-produced.
Wellington Baumann and Simone Barr, in “Midas.”
Director Evan Klasky has tried to accent the physical and visual aspects of each myth. With a background in dance, he’s added movement to every vignette. It’s not something you ordinarily see — or even think about — with high school students.
But these are no ordinary teenagers.
Assistant director Pedro Da Silva and Klasky have “applied what we learned at Staples to this show,” the director says.
“We were both in the same Myth and Bible Honors class. I think we’ve been able to understand and approach this play in a much deeper manner than if we hadn’t taken the class.”
It’s a stretch, for sure. But what is high school, after all, if not a time for metamorphosis?
(“Metamorphoses” will be presented this Thursday, Friday and Saturday — June 4, 5 and 7 — at 7 p.m., in Toquet Hall. Click here for tickets.)
