Ted Hughes' 'Tales From Ovid'

Ted Hughes' Tales From Ovid

Adapted for the stage by Tim Supple and Simon Reade; Director, Meg Taintor; Assistant to the Director/Dramaturg, Molly Haas-Hooven; Stage Manager, Sarah Simons; Lighting Designer, PJ Strachman; Original Music/Soundscape Designer, David Mcmullen; Set and Costume Designer, Kelley Leigh David; Dental Consultant, Meron Langsner

Acting Company: Erin Brehm, Danny Bryck, Jen O'Connor, Aimee Rose Ranger, Mac Young

Performances through November 20 by Whistler in the Dark Theatre at The Factory Theatre, 791 Tremont Street, Boston, MA; Box Office 1-800-838-3006 or www.whistlerinthedark.com

And now for something completely different (my apologies to Monty Python), Whistler in the Dark Theatre presents its own version of a flying circus of sorts. The members of the troupe take to the air, climbing and performing acrobatic stunts on 18 foot high columns of pale, blue silk, and inhabit a menagerie of animals and humans as they interpret ten myths from Ted Hughes' Tales From Ovid, the poet's 1997 translation of The Metamorphoses. Within the limited space of The Factory Theatre, surrounded by exposed brick walls, sans sets or costumes, five actors bring more than thirty characters to life by sheer force of talent, movement, and imagination.

For the opening production of Whistler's sixth season, Artistic Director Meg Taintor furthers the company's mission to "celebrate the imagination through linguistic acrobatics and a stripping away of extraneous trappings" with her vision of Ovid. Eschewing those typical external trappings, Taintor challenges both the audience and her ensemble to rely on the language of the play and their internal resources to create stunning images that imprint on the mind's eye. While much of what is spoken is in narrative form, the artistry of the language is undeniable. These are not bedtime stories for the faint of heart as many are violent, erotic, and disturbing, but they serve to illustrate Ovid's interest in passion or, as Hughes states, "in what passion feels like to the one possessed by it."

Ovid was a Roman poet (43 BC - 17 or 18 AD) whose The Metamorphoses (Transformations) was a 15-volume work covering some 250 Greek and Roman myths. Hughes, the Poet Laureate of England and husband of poet Sylvia Plath, translated twenty-four of the myths in his 1997 Whitbread Prize-winning book, which in turn became the basis for this dramatization by Tim Supple and Simon Reade. Included are the stories of Echo and Narcissus, Venus and Adonis (and Atalanta), and Pyramus and Thisbe, which, while familiar, are rendered here from a totally fresh perspective. The Common thread running through each of the stories is the transformative power of passion.

Erin Brehm, Danny Bryck, Jen O'Connor, Aimee Rose Ranger, and Mac Young stretch themselves physically and emotionally in service to the art and craft of Tales From Ovid. For total effect, the actors are onstage prior to curtain as the audience drifts in to choose their seats, and we literally observe them vocalizing, stretching, and limbering up in preparation for nearly ninety minutes of grueling activity. It is a tribute to the cohesiveness of their ensemble work that it is impossible, and perhaps unnecessary, to single out the performance of any of the five. Ranger convincingly handles the challenge of playing numerous male roles and her narrations are electric. Brehm shines as Atalanta, and O'Connor is heartbreaking when she plays Myrrha, the young girl who commits incest with her father. Bryck and Young both show great range in a variety of roles and display athleticism and artistry on the silks.

PJ Strachman's lighting design enhances the production, changing the mood from one tale to the next. Without the benefit of set pieces, the lighting and movement of the silks create images of a tent, a river, an act of love, and flight, to mention just a few. However, combining these visual images with the beauty of Hughes' words and the daring physicality of the actors does not complete the equation. That's where the audience comes in. Whistler in the Dark expects something from you. As Taintor writes in her program notes, "Sit forward, and enjoy."  

Photo Credit: Jenni Wylie (Aimee Rose Ranger, Mac Young)

 

 

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