Zach Theatre presents 'Metamorphoses' with a swimming pool and splash zone

When "Metamorphoses" opens at Zach Theatre tonight, audience members will be treated to a visual feast. Actors will dangle from blue silk in the air. Characters will be transformed by the gods into trees and birds.

Oh, and everyone, including the audience, might get wet, as the entire show takes place in and around a swimming pool.

When Dave Steakley, who directs Zach's version of "Metamorphoses," first saw the show at the Off Broadway Second Stage Theatre in 2001, he said he was struck by the way the show's writer and original director, Mary Zimmerman, "was able to use so much imagination and humor to tell some very tragic Greek stories."

In "Metamorphoses," which is largely based on Ovid's poem of the same name, Zimmerman uses poetic language, surprising amounts of humor and stunning visual spectacle to retell classic Greek myths for a contemporary audience.

Some very familiar stories — King Midas and his "golden touch," Orpheus' descent into the underworld during his search for Eurydice — are mingled with lesser-known but still poignant tales.

"Metamorphoses" hit Broadway in 2002 for a critically acclaimed run. Zimmerman, a Northwestern University professor who already had a MacArthur genius grant under her belt, won the Tony Award for best director that year.

The themes of the play — transformation, human connection, the eternal power of love — continued to haunt Steakley after his first viewing. "I saw the play just after 9/11, so it had a different resonance in New York," he said. "There are stories of loss and being separated from people you love. But there is also the story of a couple who is bound together forever as a tree in a symbol of eternal love, which was very powerful."

Steakley and the artistic team at Zach Theatre will be bringing in some subtle connections to Austin for their twist on "Metamorphoses," including a collaboration with dance company Blue Lapis Light. Under the artistic direction of Sally Jacques, Blue Lapis Light is known for creating highly visual site-specific aerial dance, such as 2006's "Requiem," staged at the former Intel building in downtown Austin.

"When I thought of 'Metamorphoses,' with its ideas of heaven and hell and earth and water," Steakley said, "I thought, 'Wouldn't it be great if those stories were able to float in the air above the audience?'\u2009" Nicole Whiteside, creative associate director of Blue Lapis Light, is choreographing the aerial pieces for the production.

Weeks before the show's opening, performer Will Zinser practiced an aerial combination from the Pandora's Box scene, twisting and spinning from spans of silk that hang from the ceiling. Steakley joked that people often think it looks fun to climb the lengths of fabric, but when they try it themselves, they realize how difficult it is.

The play's main visual — a pool, 12 feet wide, 3 feet deep — also connects the show to Austin. "When I think about Austin in summer, it's about the water," Steakley said. "It's about going to Barton Springs, or going to the lake. I purposely put this show during the hottest part of the year when there's nothing you want to do but put on a swimsuit and jump in the pool."

Tempting as it might be, this pool is for actors only.

Using a pool as the central element of "Metamorphoses" introduced some challenges, including keeping the actors safe. "We have to worry about slippage on the deck," Steakley said. So far the plan is to cover the deck in surfboard wax so the actors will have solid footing.

Despite logistical difficulties, the pool offers unique theatrical possibilities. The water changes from a calm place of reflection, as when Narcissus gazes at his own image, into a sea during an escalating storm, as in the battle between Alcyone and the sea god Poseidon. "Are we going to have any water left in the pool when that scene is over?" Steakley wondered.

"Metamorphoses" runs on the smaller Whisenhunt stage, which Steakley hopes will provide an intimate experience for the audience. He wanted "those airlifts directly over your head, and everyone in the splash zone."

He thought for a moment, then laughed. "Not that I want to get everyone in the theater wet! But I think the audience will feel so connected to these stories."

‘Metamorphoses'

8 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. Sundays. Thursday through Sept. 12

Whisenhunt Stage, Zach Theatre, 1510 Toomey Road

Tickets: $20-$30

Information: 476-0541 www.zachtheatre.org.

(Contains nudity)