Coming off the heels of a successful production of Sweeney Todd last summer, and now in her third year as a directing professor at Cabrillo College, Andrea Hart invites us to explore the transformative power of love.
“Metamorphoses is the story of love: how can we allow ourselves to flow between the ups and downs of love, knowing that if you choose to love, you are choosing the potential of loss?” asks Hart.
Metamorphoses, adapted by Mary Zimmerman from Ovid’s epic, will be staged in an actual swimming pool built inside the Cabrillo Black Box. Actors emerge from the water like Venus in portrayals of ancient myths that remain relevant today.
“Ovid’s Metamorphoses was 200 stories. In her adaptation, Zimmerman selected stories she felt benefited the pool on stage, showcasing the power of transformations,” Hart says. “Some of these stories include ideas of gender transformation, reminding us that these are huge themes we’ve been thinking about for thousands of years and need to acknowledge.”
This collection of vignettes runs its ensemble through a gauntlet of characters, transforming from gods to men and back again, within the multi-layered pool designed by the resourceful Skip Epperson, designer for Cabrillo Theatre Arts and Cabrillo Stage.
“Water creates an interesting design challenge, affecting lights, costumes. How do we waterproof electronics? What fabrics dry fastest? How do we keep players dry and warm backstage? These were all problems Skip [Epperson], Maria [Crush, costume designer], and I had to solve in the production process, We’ve actually done tech rehearsals out of order to ensure movement and effects worked with the actors in the water, and converted a room to be a heated drying room where wet actors can stay dry. Our entire process has been completely impacted by the water,” Hart says.
In her time at Cabrillo College, Hart has looked at the big picture in productions she’s directed on how society reacts to fear, change and the fluctuation of ideas, from 2024’s SpongeBob the Musical to last summer’s Sweeney Todd on the Cabrillo mainstage.
“Metamorphoses feels like the antidote to Sweeney Todd,” Hart says. “Todd gives into the realities of darkness and injustice. This is the opposite; these are very personal stories, even though they deal with very large issues pertaining to the individual.”
Hart has had a lifelong love affair with Greek poetry and mythology, beginning in high school with Euripides’ Medea, and continuing into a modern exploration of themes and concepts the ancient Greeks attempted to understand and we continue to grapple with on a daily basis.
Metamorphoses runs Nov. 1–16 in Cabrillo College’s Black Box Theater. The production contains mature themes. Tickets: $20-$27. cabrillovapa.universitytickets.com
