Metamorphoses. As an audience member I've seen it twice. I've also worked on it once, and it's coming into the level of popularity that I'm convinced I'll either see it or work on it at least once more in my life.

And so it becomes tempting to compare shows. Without a doubt, the overall strongest of the Metamorphoses I've seen or worked on was the very first, which I saw at Guilford College. The pool worked fabulously, and the performers used it to its full potential, even throwing in a few licks that Mary Zimmerman (the playwright) missed. The show came together as a cohesive whole, and it was an inspired work of dramatic art. The Guilford production is among the very best plays I've ever seen.

I've also seen the show at the University of Memphis, in cooperation with Rhodes College, which I will attend next year. That production incorporated a slightly larger pool, but the unifying visual features of Guilford's production were lacking, and the performers were more hesitant in their action. It was a strong show, but not a standout show.

One Song's Metamorphoses was quite different from either of those in many ways. As Katie explained to me, the themes of the play are open to interpretation in such a way that a group of mostly high schoolers will produce a show that is significantly different in subtle ways from a group of college students under the direction of an adult faculty member. One Song's was a characteristically teenage approach to the script. And it was good for what it was, but a lot of the action seemed cartoony to the audience. The company got annoyed with our audiences for laughing during the serious parts, but I can't blame the audience for what was certainly a spontaneous reaction to what they saw on the stage. Many of the themes are of a variety that it's difficult to act it unless you've lived it. Our show did lack the raw emotional passion that I witnessed at the other shows, especially at Guilford.

Our show was beautiful and moving all the same, though, and the audience's reaction was overwhelmingly positive.

Technically speaking, of course, we did our best. The primary scenic element as listed in the script (a large, waist-deep swimming pool filled with water) was lacking in our production. Working with this set piece, the show could have gone to much higher levels. The lighting system I had to work with was antiquated at best, a kind of patchwork of working and non-working lighting fixtures. The show doesn't demand a very naturalistic treatment, and so I was able to play around a little bit, using strongly saturated colors in times of intense emotion and backing off to neutral whites and lavenders during comic relief.

The set looked beautiful after it got a paint treatment. Elizabeth (the director) took it upon herself to paint the rear wall, and it was truly a piece of art.

A few of the sound effects were a tad cheesy for my ears, but the music was mostly quite effective.

The costumes, as the only fully-realized technical element, were beautiful. Integrated and flowing, vibrant and visually arresting, there's nothing negative to say about them. A piece of top-notch costume design and implementation by Courtney.

And so overall, I was happy with the end result. The performance space was less than accomodating in the lighting an scenic areas, but we put on the best show we could and the audience loved it, so I'm proud of my work.