TOWNSHEND — The Leland & Gray Players will present Metamorphoses, the second show in the troupe's 16th season, from March 15 to 17 in the Dutton Gymnasium on the Leland & Gray Campus on Route 30.
Tony-award winning playwright Mary Zimmerman brings many of the original myths from Ovid's Metamorphoses to the stage in this play. Focused on change and transformation, the Players set each myth in a specific time period ranging from the '20s to the present day.
Highlights from the production include the tragic, melancholic story of Orpheus and Eurydice countered by the myth of Erysichthon.
A satiric piece, Erysichthon is set in the 1960s, when the main character has the desire to eat anything to satisfy his hunger. Other tales will include Pandora, Eros and Psyche, Midas, Alcyone and Ceyx, Phaeton, and Baucis and Philomen.
Zimmerman's adaptation was originally conceived to take place around and in a large pool center stage. With a set design by sophomore Maezie Cramp, the Players will instead use different venues for each scene on a unified set.
Seniors Will Bass, Fabian Gaspero-Beckstrom, and junior Jonah Ullman are composing original incidental music for the production, while a cast of 23 new and veteran players work with a crew almost as large.
The cast includes Greer Bills, Madison Cannella, Will Bass, Patrick Hauer, Logan Hazard, Suzy Francy, Maezie Cramp, Ashley Bates, Max Cramp, Gabbi Walton, William Jagiello, Gia Casella, Caitlin Hamm, Jasmine Domenick, Nicole Winot, Maddi Etman, Gable Rak, Jesse Newton, Natalie Cullen, Sean Kiziltan, Grace Muise, Jesse Cannella, and Tino Benson. Ann Landenberger directs; Abby Hadden is assistant producer.
Performances are March 15 at 7 p.m., March 16 at 7:30 p.m., and March 17 at 3 and 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for students and seniors.
For more information about Metamorphoses, contact Landenberger at verbatim@svcable.net.