This play is based on Ovid's 15-volume work of transformation myths. Positioned in and around a large pool on the stage, the characters enact Zimmerman's adaptations of Ovid's tales, juxtaposing the ancient and the contemporary in both language and image. The tone of the drama likewise echoes the themes of change and contrast, from the humour of Phaeton's therapy session to the tragedy of Midas and his daughter. The volume contains a production history, the play script, and, because the visual aspect of the play is important, photographs from some of its past productions.
About the author: MARY ZIMMERMAN is a professor of performance studies at Northwestern University. She has adapted-directed The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, The Odyssey, The Arabian Nights, Eleven Rooms of Proust, and Journey to the West. In 1998, she was the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship. She has also been awarded the Sarah Siddons Society Great Women of American Theatre Award, the Northwestern Alumnae Award, the Chicago Drama League Award, and many others. Zimmerman is a Manilow Resident Director at the Goodman Theatre and an ensemble member of Chicago's Lookingglass Theatre Company.
