Senior, Claire Saxe will be putting Ovid’s Metamorphoses in the limelight this spring as a bridge between her two academic focuses, theatre and the classics. She gave Her Campus the inside scoop on the process of translating the famed author’s work for the stage. Don’t forget to mark the date of the show in your calenders after reading about her inspirational take on this classic piece!
Her Campus: What are the steps you must take in completing your interdisciplinary independent study/senior project?
Claire Saxe: First, I am translating a myth from Ovid’s Metamorphoses with Dan Curly, the chair of the Classics Department.Next, I am adapting it into a script for a play, and finally, starting in April, we will begin to rehearse that play in the theatre. The play will be performed at the end of April.
Her Campus: What gave you the idea to do this?
Claire: I took a class in Ovid’s Metamorphoses with Professor Curly last semester and I was really inspired by the poetry, the history, the mythology and the potential for classical research. It also appealed to me to do something interdisciplinary that integrated my two fields of study, theatre and the classics.
HC: What is the myth about?
Claire: Ceyx is in mourning over the transformation of his brother who was turned into a hawk by Juno. Thus, he feels the chaos of the world and takes a sea voyage to the oracle to try to gain control of his life and find out what will happen next. He does this leaving his wife, Alcyone, at home but unfortunately dies in a shipwreck. Juno sends a dream to Alcyone to tell her what has happened to her husband and in her mourning Alcyone goes to the beach, sees Ceyx’s body floating in the sea, and leaps off the cliff towards him. By the power of their love, they are both turned into mythical fish called halcyons and the gods calm the seas for a week so the lovers can lay their eggs because the gods feel guilty for causing this wild sea to tear their love apart.
HC: Where are you at this point in your project?
C: I finished the 375-line translation over winter break and I’m going over with it with Professor Curly. I’ve written a draft of the play and am currently in the editing and revising process.
HC: How are the actors of your play chosen?
C: The Theatre Department holds general auditions at the start of each semester for specific plays.Certain student actors get called back to be a part of specific productions depending on where the student producers think they fit best.
HC: What is the greatest challenge you are facing or think you will face in this project?
C: The actual adaptation is harder than I thought it would be because in some ways the story is straightforward and I am beginning with a plot, but I’ve realized that the plot is just the very bare bones of the play. What I truly need to write it is the meat of the story.
HC: What is the meat of it?
C: Stephanie Fleischmann, the adjunct playwriting professor, always says there is the plot and then there’s personal part—the “why is this important to me?” part. Finally, there is the “what the play is about” part—the soul of the play, which is what I am still trying to discover.
HC: So why is it important to you?
C: It’s important to me because of the timelessness of the play’s themes—ideas we can still relate to 400 years later. My play is about the way different people manage chaos. It’s about fear, the way we try and protect ourselves, and the way fear can tear us apart. It’s about the power of love, which is the only thing that can withstand the chaos. Think of when you are reading a newspaper and you hear about all of the frightening things in the world. Do you go into your house and hide or go out and take action of your own life and/or the events surrounding you? It’s also about the idea of fate and our inability to control it.
HC: What has been the most rewarding part of this experience for you personally?
C: I loved giving actors scenes to read at callbacks and seeing the positive response I was getting. It was great to see the actors become inspired by the text and take ownership of it.
HC: Has this experience at all impacted your plans for the future?
C: Yes, actually! I’m looking at graduate programs in England for theatre and the most appealing program would allow me to explore acting, directing, and writing.
Don’t miss Claire Saxe’s personal take on the classic, Metamorphoses, running from April 27-29th! Email aclark@skidmore.edu, for tickets and more info. The best part of all? Admission is free!
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Skidmore chapter.