In the Fall of 2022, Penn State Centre Stage produced the 1996 play Metamorphoses, written by American playwright and director, Mary Zimmerman, and directed by Assistant Professor, Sam Osheroff. Metamorphoses is told through vignettes which juxtapose ancient storytelling with contemporary form to reflect the persistence of narratives in the face of inevitable change. The eleven vignettes explore the intricacies of love and leave the audience considering the non-singular complexities of people in all their different relationships. This play asks the question "What can make a person become something completely different?" through stories of transformation, love, and grief.

  The scenic design of Metamorphoses dialed in on the overt theatricality of Zimmerman’s storytelling. To immerse the audience in the world, we created a “diorama theatre” placed there by the gods, shrouded in artifice; a world planted for a moment, an illusion disappearing the instant the story concludes. We were entranced by the elegant simplicity and timelessness of these stories and wanted to translate that into Classical Greek forms within the architecture, as well as incorporating an elemental use of shapes, featuring the earth, sky, and water. Most notably, a pool of water filled the center of the stage; shimmering, stagnant, and everchanging for each of the stories. The setting provided a gateway into an immersive dreamscape for audiences to connect and find escape in the face of overwhelming change in post-pandemic America. Through both the content and design of the show, Metamorphoses is an ode to the only constant in life: change.