New Theatre Company Takes Old Myths To Breathtaking New Heights

A new theatre company, helmed by emerging young Los Angeles theatremakers, is making waves this July with its first production: a fresh take on Mary Zimmerman's Tony Award-winning classic Metamorphoses. The Crosstown Players' production seeks to explore Ovid's classical myths with a modern, visceral movement style that breathes life into these stories in a new and exciting way. There are six performances in the month of July, beginning with their opening night on July 13th.

Metamorphoses turned heads when it opened on Broadway in 2002, claiming two Drama Desk awards, several Tony Awards including Best Direction, and a nomination for Best Play. While many past productions utilized a pool of water as the focal point for the myths, the Crosstown Players have instead created a dynamic movement vocabulary as their play's connective tissue, including off-balance work to evoke a sense of suspension. The actors also achieve literal suspension as they incorporate aerial silks to lift and transform themselves in breathtaking fashion.

"This production continues the growing movement in LA theatre away from naturalism," says director Victoria Pearlman. "It moves towards an aesthetic that is both mythic and emotionally appealing."

The Crosstown Players is a production team consisting primarily of young alumni from USC's School of Dramatic Arts. Director Victoria Pearlman, producer Dominic Bournes, assistant director Zachary Cantrell and several actors first workshopped this production with award-winning director Robert Bailey, who is known for his work on experimental theatre. They have since expanded the scope of their collaborative movement basis with the help of choreographer Caribay Franke and producer Tylre Synclair.

Metamorphoses is comprised of multiple myths contained in Ovid's epic narrative of the same name. It chronicles stories of change, both of body and heart, of love lost and found, and of redemption and condemnation. It is a play that reminds its audience of the endurability iof the human condition through the ages of time, and the comfort that can be found in knowing that.

Show dates: July 13th & 14th @ 8:00; July 15th @ 2:00; July 20th & 21st @ 8;00; July 22nd @ 2:00.

Venue: Theatre 68, 5112 Lankershim Blvd. North Hollywood, CA

Tickets: General admission, $25; VIP tickets (reserved seating and two concession items), $35

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