Metamorphoses

Metamorphoses is a playful new piece of theatre inspired by Ovid’s powerful collection of myths, written bespoke to our candlelit Sam Wanamaker Playhouse by the Globe’s first writers-in-residence in nearly four centuries.

A hundred props. Four actors. One theatre. And you, the audience. Strap in for a rollercoaster of epic impossibilities.

From the everyday to the astonishing, and the ordinary to the unimaginable, Ovid’s stories explore the power of transformation, the resilience of humans and the wonder of life. They were a great inspiration to Shakespeare and over 2000 years later, are reimagined for our world now. Expect anarchy, shape shifting and a burning chariot of fire.

The ensemble breathing new life into these provocative and pertinent stories includes: our Globe writers-in-residence, Sami Ibrahim, Laura Lomas and Sabrina Mahfouz; two directors, Globe Associate Artistic Director, Sean Holmes and Associate Artistic Director of Headlong, Holly Race Roughan; and four actors (to be confirmed).

Sami, Laura and Sabrina became the Globe’s resident writers with the introduction of our Scriptorium programme in 2019. The twelve-month residency saw the writers develop ideas and work bespoke to both of our theatre spaces. Metamorphoses marks the culmination of these three wonderful playwrights’ time with us.

‘We are here to make sense of it all’.

Content guidance: Contains strong language and themes of violence and sexual assault.